


Pretend

by NotADragon



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-04-25 07:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14374335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotADragon/pseuds/NotADragon
Summary: She went to one party, talked to one guy, made one split-second decision to tell one little lie.“No you see, Scott’s also my skating partner. Not just my boyfriend."Fake dating AU set in 2011





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Someday maybe I won't feel the need to apologize for RPF. That day certainty isn't today. I'm very sorry. Alas, here we are again.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Party: Part 1
> 
> (Note: chapters 1-3 are really just one chapter, split only due to my writing speed. They are shorter than later chapters as such.)

There were many sacrifices that needed to be made to be one half of the best ice dance couple in the world: sleep, normal schooling, living at home, and health. Tessa had made all of them and had every intention of continuing to do so. It was worth it. But the one sacrifice that didn’t seem worth it was having to give up alcohol as part of her training diet. She wasn’t an alcoholic. She didn’t need to drink. She was barely legal in the States anyways. She didn’t need a glass of wine every night with dinner. She didn’t need to get trashed while clubbing on the weekends. But she was pretty sure that a gin and tonic was the only possible thing that could make her current situation any better.

Alas, she had to suffer while sober. She took a sip of her water and tried to resist the urge to check the time on her phone. To be polite, she really needed to stay at this party until at least ten o’clock. If she could make it to then, she could plead her early drive back to Michigan and have socialized for an acceptable two whole hours. If she made it that long. She really didn’t think she would. Wistfully, she stared longingly at the collection of booze of the kitchen counter behind the people she was kind of talking to.

“Oh Tessa!” Michelle bounded up and grabbed her arm. Tessa made an apologetic face to the people she had been talking to, as if to say ‘I’m so sorry we got interrupted’ despite the fact she hadn’t even been listening to whatever they were saying. She let her friend pull her away, across the living room, away from the booze she couldn’t drink anyways.

“I want you to meet someone. He’s cute and he also goes to university in Windsor! What a small world, right?”

“Wow, yeah, small world,” Tessa agreed with all the enthusiasm she could muster. It wasn’t really that surprising that someone else here would be going to school in Windsor. It wasn’t that far from London so a few kids she had gone to elementary school with had ended up there too. But Michelle meant well, she knew that. That was why Tessa had agreed to show up to her birthday on one of her few weekends at home. Michelle had been a good friend during Tessa’s early years at the Ilderton rink in singles. She was one of the few girls Tessa had kept up with as she moved to Waterloo and then Canton.

“He’s a friend of Paul’s,” Michelle explained. Tessa couldn’t quite remember if Paul was Michelle’s boyfriend or housemate. He was one of the two anyways, she was pretty sure. “I don’t really know him, but maybe you two will hit it off?”

Tessa hummed noncommittally. This was sounding less and less promising. She indulged herself and quickly pulled out her phone. 8:47.

Michelle stopped in the living room in front of a tall, blonde guy. He was kind of cute, Michelle wasn’t wrong.

“Brian. Tessa. Tessa. Brian.” Michelle introduced the two, pointing back and forth between them. Then she spun around and headed off to do whatever birthday girl or hostess things which left Brian and Tessa alone.

Tessa held out a hand. Brian immediately took it, firmly, but was slowly, obviously looking her up and down. She pulled her hand back and took a tiny step backwards.

“Hi.” She was polite, giving him the benefit of the doubt.

He finally looked up and actually met her gaze, seemingly not at all embarrassed at having blatantly checked her out.

“Hey,” he replied. “So Michelle says you also live in Windsor.”

“Michigan, actually,” she corrected. “But I go to school in Windsor.”

“It’s a shame I haven’t run into you on campus sooner.” His eyes roaming over her again.

Tessa didn’t find herself agreeing with the sentiment. She moved right past his comment. “So, what are you taking this next semester?”

“Some bio courses and labs,” he said. “With some psych electives. I’m majoring in microbio, minoring in psych.”

She waited for him to ask her what she was taking in response, the normal social niceties. She was a psych major so it was possible that they would have classes together. He didn’t ask. Deeply unimpressed, she turned cold. “Cool.”

He didn’t seem to pick up on her tone at all. “We should go out sometime in Windsor. You should give me your number and I’ll text you.”

It wasn’t a question, as if he just assumed she would want to spend more time in his company.

“Actually, I have a boyfriend,” she said dryly. She had quickly done the mental math and realized this was a dude who would likely not listen well if she just outright said no. Assholes like that always took it better if they thought the only reason you wouldn’t date them was because you were already with someone else.

Brian laughed. “No you don’t, Michelle said you were single. Come on, give me your number.” Any thought she might have had about him being cute was long gone by this point, erased by his rude arrogance. He started taking his phone out of his pocket.

Tessa was rapidly considering her options for getting out of the situation when she heard her name being called.

“Tess!”

Automatically, she relaxed slightly and two seconds later she found herself enveloped in familiar arms. Grateful for his perfect timing, Tessa kissed Scott’s cheek before returning his hug. With a little squeeze, Scott loosened his grip and Tessa followed suit, stepping back.

“Who’s this?” Brian asked, making Scott aware of his presence for the first time.

“Hey man, I’m Scott.” Scott held out his hand and Brian reluctantly shook it.

“Hey. Brian.”

She saw the opportunity right in front of her. There were about a million possible ways it could go wrong, but it was right there. She only had a second to consider it and somehow she ignored all the warning bells going off in the more sensible parts of her brain. It seemed like the easiest way to solve the problem of Brian.

“We were just talking about you,” Tessa said, taking Scott’s hand and lacing their fingers together. It wasn’t unusual for them to hold hands, even if it was less common for her to initiate it, and Scott didn’t pull away.

“You were?” Scott asked, clearly confused. “Do you skate?”

Now it was Brian’s turn to look confused. “No, what does skating have to do with anything?”

Tessa laughed awkwardly, trying to break the tension. She turned her attention to Brian, hoping he wouldn’t notice Scott’s reaction to what she was about to say. “No you see, Scott’s also my skating partner. Ice dance.” She squeezed Scott’s handing, hoping he would get the message to not freak out. “Not just my boyfriend.”

She could feel Scott tense up beside her, always attuned to his body after years on the ice together, and squeezed his hand tighter. She plowed onward before either of them could say anything. “Did Michelle not tell you? That’s why I’m living in Michigan. We train there. Actually, we won at the last Olympics.”

“Did you?” His jaw was clenched and his words were clipped. Brian’s reaction was significantly less impressed than people normally were when they heard about Olympic gold.  
“Yup,” Tessa said with as much bubbliness as she could manage. Which wasn’t a ton. “We did.” She emphasized the ‘we’.

Tessa finally turned and looked at Scott to see he half had his press smile on, but was mostly staring at her intently. Oh, she had made a mess of things.

“You don’t have a drink Scott. Let’s go get you something. Nice meet you Brian.” She tipped her glass in Brian’s direction and started pulling Scott behind her towards the kitchen.

“See you around,” Brian said in a less than friendly tone as they were walking away.

When they were a few steps away, Scott changed their course, pulling her away from the kitchen. Instead, he led her into Michelle’s bedroom, the only empty room in the apartment. He flicked on the lights and closed the door behind them.

He leaned back against the door, folding his arms over his chest. His eyebrows were almost at his hairline as he looked at her expectantly.

“Boyfriend?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So I have been struggling with this idea for a little while now. I was hoping to make it a one shot, but writing has been going poorly, so the only way I'm going to be able to force myself to plow though it is to post it in pieces so that I have an obligation to keep going. Hence the short first chapter. Life is, as always, busy, so I guarantee nothing about an upload schedule. It'll get finished eventually though because I already have a couple later bits started. No idea how long it will be, but I strongly doubt it will end up anywhere near Marked in length.
> 
> Basically, fake dating is just my favourite trope and I need to do this.
> 
> Anyways, I'm always lurking on tumblr mobile so you can find me here: https://obviouslynotadragon.tumblr.com/


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Party: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Picking up where we left off...

“Boyfriend?”

“Sorry,” Tessa said, quickly. “But you totally saved me there.”

“Boyfriend?” Scott repeated. He wanted a full explanation, and she knew she needed to give it. With a sigh, she walked backwards so she could sit on the end of Michelle’s bed. She plopped down and leaned back.

“That –” Tessa stopped herself before she could say jackass. She didn’t use words like that. Not out loud anyways. She started again, “That guy, he was coming on way too strong. He’s some friend of Paul’s or something. Anyways, he was giving me a really bad vibe. And then he basically demanded I go out with him and he lives in Windsor and is taking psych classes and so I just said I had a boyfriend. I didn’t plan on dragging you into it, I swear. You just happened to walk up right at that moment, so I kind of, umm, yeah. Sorry.”

Scott pushed away from the door to sit down beside her.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said. But she fiddled with her rings, not looking up at him.

They sat there in silence for a minute. Tessa didn’t know what else to say.

“What do you mean by ‘bad vibe’?”

“I just didn’t like the way he was talking at me.” And he had been talking at her, not talking with her.

“Why didn’t you just say no when he asked you out?”

“You don’t get it Scott.” Tessa was starting to get worked up. He really didn’t understand. She wanted to make him understand. “He didn’t ask. He literally just demanded I give him my number. Guys like that, they’re not like you Scott. They don’t see me as a person. They see me as a potential conquest. And do you know what that’s like? It’s scary. It’s literally scary. He goes to my school. He’s taking pysch courses. He’s friends with Paul. I’m probably going to run into him again and I don’t want his eyes crawling all over me, everywhere except my face, every time I do. So I told him I had a boyfriend. Because if he treats me like an object, I don’t want him thinking I’m his for the taking. Get it?”

Scott’s eyes had gone hard from the moment she emphasized ‘demanded’. By the time she got to the end, his fists were clenched at his side. At least he seemed to get it now. As much as she figured he could get it without having experienced someone looming over him acting entitled to his time and body.

She covered his hand with her own, trying to calm them both down. “I’m sorry I told him you were my boyfriend. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. But he ignored me when I said I had one, and I just needed an out at that moment.”

Scott wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him on the bed. He rested his head on her shoulder while he stroked her back. She slipped her arms under his so that she could reach around his waist.

“Don’t be sorry Tess. You shouldn’t be sorry. And I wasn’t uncomfortable, just surprised.”

“You’re not mad?”

He sat back, but didn’t fully let go. With one hand, he brushed back the hair that had fallen over her face, tucking it behind her ear. “Not at you, I’m not.”

Tessa heard the door open, letting in the noise of the party.

“Oh shit.”

Tessa and Scott mutually pulled back to see Michelle standing in the doorway, hand covering her mouth in surprise.

“You two really are together then?” she said, her question rhetorical. She barrelled on before either one could respond. “I’ll just be leaving then, but please don’t have sex on my bed.”

And she was out the door before Tessa or Scott could open their mouths to correct her.

“Oh.” Tessa stared at the closed door. That wasn’t good. It was one thing to tell a random guy she had a fake boyfriend. It was another for her actual friend to think she was dating someone she wasn’t. And not just any someone. Scott.

“Still not mad?” she asked dryly.

Scott sighed, running a hand through his hair. He was messing up whatever product he had put in it to spike up the front. “No T. You did what you needed to in a crappy situation. Honestly, I’m impressed you came up with that so quickly on the spot.”

“It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve needed to invent a boyfriend.”

“I didn’t realize it was that common,” he frowned. He was staring over her shoulder, seemingly thinking. “Anytime you need a fake boyfriend Tess, its fine. Use me. Whether I’m there or not. And if you need, you know I’ll always come if you need me, right?”

He could be so protective. “I’m okay Scott, really.”

“I know that,” he said. “But still. Anything you need, I’m here.”

“Well right now,” Tessa began, trying to move the conversation forward. “I might need you to help deal with this mess I think I’ve just made. I wish he hadn’t gone running to tell Michelle.”

“Do you think she has told the whole city by now, or just the whole party?”

Tessa buried her head in her hands. Her words came out muffled. “Oh god, she probably has told everyone. It’s going to be such a pain to correct her. I wish that guy could have just kept his mouth shut.”

Scott reached over and began massaging her shoulder. “It’s too late for that now. How do you want to handle this tonight?”

She sat up, chewing on her lip as she considered the only decent option available. “I know this isn’t how you planned on spending your night, but I’m going to leave in an hour. Can you keep up my lie until then? Just so I don’t ruin Michelle’s party with drama since he’s still around. I’ll text her tomorrow or something and explain.”

“You wouldn’t be the one causing drama, Tess. It’s that jackass’s fault for being a jackass and putting you in that position. But yeah, whatever you need.”

She liked that Scott had used the same word she wanted to earlier – jackass. Scott and she were always compliments like that, weirdly linked and usually on the same page.

He stood up and held out a hand to help her up. She didn’t need it, but she took it anyways for a moment.

“Let’s go,” Scott said, gesturing towards the door and the rest of the party.

Tessa started forward and Scott moved beside her, placing his hand on her lower back as they went. Leaving Michelle’s bedroom, they didn’t get five steps before the whole party hushed. Every head in the room turned to look at them.

Tessa froze, so Scott stopped beside her, but didn’t drop his hand from its place on the small of her back.

“So.”

Tessa looked around to find who it was talking. She spotted Michelle’s brother, Tom, who was also Scott’s friend, standing over near the kitchen.

“Who had August 2011 in the pool for when they would get together?”

A couple people groaned. Someone Tessa couldn’t see who it was that said “I did.”

“Wait, you guys have a pool?” Scott asked, incredulous. Tessa was impressed he could find the words cause she had none at all at that moment.

Tom grinned. “Been running it for years. Half your family is in on it too. Danny’s going to be pissed. He bet a lot that it would take you another couple years to man up and ask her out.”

Half the room was laughing.

Tessa could feel her cheeks flaming. She desperately wanted to go run back into the bedroom, climb out the window, drive back to Michigan, and never return home again.

“What the fuck is wrong with all of you?!”

Instinctively, Tessa reached out to take Scott’s hand to calm him down. It wasn’t until she laced their fingers together that she realized that her response probably wasn’t helping appearances.

“What? You can’t be mad, man.” Tom continued to speak on behalf of the group. “You’ve got Tessa now so what does it matter if some money changes hands between the people who have been stuck dealing with you two for years.”

The chatter in the apartment picked back up and people started going back to whatever they had been doing previously, talking and playing beer pong. Heads turned away from them while Tessa stayed glued to her spot, mortified.

With a last glare in Tom’s direction, Scott turned back to Tessa. “You okay?” he asked, his voice low so no one else could overhear.

“I’m so sorry, Scott.” Tessa started rambling. “I had no idea. I shouldn’t have – and now they – this is a disaster. I can’t believe they have a pool? I’m so so sorry.”

“Shh, T.” Scott quickly gathered up Tessa in his arms. “Stop apologizing. I’m the one who should apologize pre-emptively because I think I may be punching more than one jackass tonight. I just need to get a list of who all is in that pool.”

Despite how beyond embarrassed she was, half a laugh escaped Tessa.

“We’ll deal with this all later, okay?” Scott said.

Before Tessa could respond, she found herself pulled out of Scott’s embrace.

“Time for girl talk!” Michelle exclaimed, pulling Tessa behind her into the kitchen. People parted to let the birthday girl walk past.

Abruptly, Michelle stopped and spun around to face Tessa. “So when were you going to tell me?”

“It’s your birthday, shouldn’t we talk about this another time?”

Her deflection didn’t work at all. Michelle stood there, hand on her hip, waiting.

“It’s, umm, new,” Tessa hedged. “I didn’t want to say anything before I knew how serious it was.” It wasn’t quite a lie. It was new, like twenty minutes old. It was just also fake.

Michelle seemed to buy it. “It’s about time. You’ve been half in love with him your whole life.”

“I have not,” Tessa mumbled weakly.

“Have not what?” Scott appeared at Tessa’s side, joining the conversation.

“Nothing,” Tessa replied. She was way past her limit and felt like she needed to be done with everything. “Actually Michelle, I’m so sorry, but we have to drive back early tomorrow morning. I should head home and get some sleep.”

“Okay, but next time you’re home, we’re due for a wine night and a long chat.”

Tessa nodded. “Sure thing. Happy birthday again. Have fun.”

She gave Michelle a quick hug and started heading to the front door. To her surprise, Scott kept in step with her.

“What are you doing? You don’t have to come with me.”

“I’ll walk you home.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. “You do not get to leave me here to deal with this alone. I’m coming with you.”

She couldn’t argue with that. She found her shoes and slipped them on. Scott opened the door for her and she walked out into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, writing continues to go extra slowly, so I'm forcing myself to post another short chapter. That's all I've got today, so take care y'all <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Party: Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where were we? Ahh yes, leaving a party... right. Back to that then.

Spending fourteen years with Scott meant Tessa had been through nearly everything imaginable with him. Their early years were plenty awkward with quiet Tessa unsure of how to treat the boisterous older boy she skated with. The later years were a whole other type of uncomfortable. Teenaged years were hard in general, but they were worse when you had a crush you couldn’t hide on your skating partner. They got through it and grew up and Tessa got her feelings firmly under control (or so she told herself). But not a single moment in those fourteen years was anywhere near as embarrassing or awkward as tonight. A pool. Their entire friend group had a pool on when they would get together because apparently she was just that transparent.

What Michelle had said before Tessa bailed was wrong, but not entirely. Tessa had not been half in love with Scott for her whole life. First off, she met him when she was like six. So there were at least six years when she was not at all in love with him. As for the rest, well she wasn’t exactly half in love that whole time. For a while it was more of a crush. And then… yeah half in love was actually a pretty good description for her teenage years. But now? Now was a whole different story.

She was hopelessly in love with Scott. That was just her reality. But she didn’t think anyone else knew that anymore. She’d been teased enough by her sister and her friends when she was a teenager that she learned to hide it. She was always careful about how much she talked about him, making sure she wasn’t bringing him up too much in conversation. When she did talk about him, or about them together, she tried to avoid gushing. She was extra cautious about touching him, returning whatever physical affection he gave, but avoiding initiating it herself too often. Honestly, it was a lot of work. And she thought it had worked. People had mostly stopped asking her about him in that suggestive tone a few years ago.

It was all for the best. Skating was the priority and then their friendship came second. Tessa didn’t want to ever risk losing either of those things. And it wasn’t like Scott had ever been even a little bit interested in her anyways. So she took what she could have, and she was okay with that. Her feelings for Scott, loving him, it was basically like white noise. Always there, but when there was enough going on she could just ignore it. Like at the party, when there was that Brian guy, and Michelle, and people all the in background. Or when they were skating and she was focused on her technique, and posture, and their next step sequence. Then, she had enough other things to focus on. But when things got quiet, she just couldn’t block it out.

Like right now. As they walked back to her house in deafening silence. Honestly, somehow the walk was more upsetting than the party. It wasn’t true night yet, but the street lights had come on. Cars passed occasionally, but the road was pretty sleepy. A group of girls were laughing across the road, headed in the opposite direction as them. Tessa supressed a sigh, jealous of the fun, easy night they were obviously having. The type of night she was most certainly not having at all.

They’d gone three blocks from Michelle’s and neither of them had said a word. They were perfectly in step with eight inches between them, but the distance still felt insurmountable. Tessa was painfully aware of Scott’s presence even without touching him or so much as glancing in his direction. There was nothing to distract her.

She didn’t know how everything had snowballed so quickly, but she was pretty sure she had accidentally wrecked fucking everything. If Scott just hadn’t walked up at that moment, or if Michelle hadn’t introduced her to that guy, or if she had just went back to Michigan tonight instead of planning on an early morning drive… It was too late now regardless.

Now, what she really needed to do was face up to the situation and figure out what the hell she was supposed to do. Their friends had a damn pool, clearly because she still mooned over him like the love-struck school girl she once had been. And if all their friends knew, Scott had to know too. If she really was that obvious, there was no way he could have also missed it considering she spent infinitely more time with him than anyone else. And all this time, he had just been letting her save face so that it wouldn’t be awkward for either of them.

Tessa stared resolutely at the sidewalk in front of her. One foot in front of the other. She had to apologize, obviously. She just didn’t know how. _Sorry I just can’t get over you and that I must make it weird to be around me every day. And sorry I made it worse by lying to half our friends. I’ll do anything to not destroy our career, so please don’t leave me._ Yeah, no. That was too desperate. Even if that is what the situation maybe called for.

There was a decent-sized pebble on the sidewalk and, frustrated, Tessa kicked at it. She missed and stumbled. Scott immediately reached out and grabbed her arm to steady her.

“Careful, T.”

“Sorry, I’m such a klutz,” she tried to laugh it off. It came out hollow to her ears though.

He slid his hand down her arm and took her hand in his. Her arm burned everywhere he had brushed. Her years of practice kept her from reacting, from grasping at such a simple touch, even if it got her every time.

“Good thing you have me,” he said, bumping her shoulder playfully. “I’d never let you fall.”

She grinned and finally looked up at him. The tension was broken at least. They were talking. She met his warm eyes and felt a little better. Maybe she hadn’t totally wrecked absolutely everything.

They came up to a red light, forced to wait to cross despite the lack of traffic.

Scott took a deep breath in and Tessa turned to him expectantly. It was the coward’s way out, letting him take the lead on fixing things. She took it anyways.

“Listen Tess,” he started and stopped. He ran his spare hand through his hair. It was too short these days for his ruffling to have any real effect.

“I’m sorry.” He paused again, searching for words. “This is my – the guys just. The pool…”

“Scott?” She had no idea what the hell he was trying to say. And he didn’t seem to either.

The light changed. She squeezed his hand and guided him across the street while he seemed to wrestle with whatever it was he was trying to say.

“The guys, my brothers, they dick around, you know? They tease me. About us. They’ve been doing it for forever. I think it’s more habit than anything at this point. The pool is just them screwing around probably, trying to get a rise out of me. I’m sorry. I had no idea about it or I would have told them to knock it the hell off. It’s not fair that you got dragged into whatever stupid guy crap gone too far.”

Tessa listened and tried to mesh what he was saying with what she had been thinking for the last twenty minutes. He didn’t think it was her fault. Or he was saying it wasn’t anyways. But this had to be her fault. His friends ribbing him about dancing with a girl (even though they were all grown adults now) could not account for just how many people seemed in on the pool at that party. But either he thought it was just guys being guys, and somehow everyone else could see how she felt except him, or he knew the truth too and was just giving her an out. If it was the second one, he was throwing her a lifeline, telling her that he would keep pretending and they could go on as usual. That seemed to make an awful lot more sense than the first option. It would be so very Scott like, to quietly help her out of a mess by taking the fall himself.

She took the lifeline. Anything to save the most important things in her life.

“It’s fine. I mean, I hate all of them, but we’re fine. You and me. Right?” She tried to be as breezy as possible.

“Always,” he said lightly.

He started raising their hands, shifting into a dance hold. As always, she followed his lead as he twirled her in a circle as they kept walking. She ended facing forward and his arm fell to drape over her shoulders. He laced their fingers back together, her arm reaching across her chest to accommodate the change. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but she was so damn glad that he wasn’t going to let this whole night ruin them that she wouldn’t dare let go.

“So T, what’s that brilliant brain of yours thinking? Have you come up with a plan?”

“You mean other than just never coming home again?”

“Yeah, I mean I’ll disown Danny over this is if I have to, but I’d like to think up other options first.” She knew he’d never actually do that, but she didn’t put it past him to get into a brotherly brawl on his next trip home. Best to avoid that if possible.

“I don’t know. I mean, if we’re going with ‘honesty is the best policy’, I can just call Michelle tomorrow and tell her everything. She’d probably help tell everyone else that it was all just a big mistake.”

“Yeah, that’s probably easiest,” he said, but with no conviction. Tessa glanced at him, trying to get a read on what he was thinking.

When he didn’t say anything else, she prompted him. “What is it Scott?”

“The pool,” he sighed. “If they’re not fucking around and actually have real money behind this dumb joke, they’re probably going to keep it running if we correct them, no matter what I threaten them with.”

She hadn’t considered it, but when he said it, she knew he was right. They needed a way to get everyone to leave them alone forever. She hummed, thinking hard.

“When are you planning on coming home next?” she asked, a plan forming.

“Not sure, probably not for a month at least.”

“Me either.” Yeah, she had a plan alright. A dumb one. But still. “Maybe we should not tell them then.”

“Not tell them that I’m not actually your boyfriend?”

She nodded. “We keep dating as far as everyone here is concerned. Fake dating that is. We’re in Michigan anyways, so it’s not like we have to really do anything. And then, before we come home next, we just tell them we broke up. Not that we were never together, but that we tried and it didn’t work and we’re putting it behind us so we can keep skating.”

“So we fake date in Canada only?”

“Yeah. I mean, we can’t let anyone at the rink find out obviously. Or the press, but mostly they don’t care this far away from any Olympics. Or Skate Canada, since they’re shameless and would try to exploit it if they thought we were together. But that shouldn’t be a big deal. It isn’t really like our skating and home lives overlap too much.”

The more Tessa talked, the more ways she could see it going wrong. And that was even before she thought about how she was going to explain the whole thing to her family because she would have to tell them the truth at some point. But it would fix the problem of their friends. If they thought they actually tried dating, her friends would probably never bring up Scott with her ever again after they ‘broke up’.

“It might work. We might as well try it, if you are sure you’re okay with it?” Scott seemed pretty unsure himself.

“I am if you are.”

He didn’t say he wasn’t. He didn’t say anything at all, but she took it as acceptance of the plan. Tessa’s house was in sight and the walked the last block in silence.

“Again, I’m so sorry Scott,” she said, as they crossed her driveway towards her front door. “I had no idea things would spiral so hard tonight.”

She let go of his hand as they climbed the couple of steps onto the porch. He took the cue and removed his arm from around her as she fished out her keys from her purse. She tried not to focus on the distinct absence of pressure from her shoulders.

“Stop apologizing Tess, really.”

“You going back to the party?” she asked. She had found her keys and was now unnecessarily delaying heading in.

He shook his head. “I don’t really feel like it.” But he also didn’t move to leave.

“I didn’t plan on coming home so early. I have a bunch of old things saved up on my PVR though. Jeopardy and HGTV and whatever. Want to come in for a bit?”

“Sure.”

Everything was still normal with them it seemed then. She resisted the urge to sigh in relief. She finally turned to the door, unlocking it. Stepping inside, Scott followed right behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y'all! Writing continues to be a struggle (hence the delay), but I'm okay with how this turned out mostly. If any of you caught the direct reference to a different ship in here, then yeah, I may have borrowed that. It's one of my favourite ships and I happen to love that line. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please proceed on with your life.)
> 
> I assume the next update will be a while. If you like, I live on tumblr mobile so I can be found here: https://obviouslynotadragon.tumblr.com/  
> I hope you are still on board with where I'm taking this! If you are, then until next time, take care! <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> High Performance Camp

It was weird. Unsettling. Tessa wasn’t used to it at all. It had been five days since the whole fiasco in London. She didn’t realize she was that dependant that five days could throw her off this much. She was an adult, a busy adult, for goodness’ sake. She had other things to think about and focus on and do. She had a whole life in Michigan (kind of). It hadn’t even been a whole week. Technically, this problem was of her own making and she could solve it at any time. She just wasn’t ready to yet.

That night, the night of the fiasco fake dating party last Saturday, hadn’t ended when she curled up on her couch with Scott. No, he had made the mistake of checking his phone before they put on Jeopardy to find no less than three dozen texts from his brothers and several missed phone calls from his parents. After firing off a couple of profanity filled texts to Danny and Charlie, and a nicer one promising to call his mother later, he had turned his phone off. The second that Tessa had got a text from her sister, apparently tipped off by Scott’s family, she had followed his lead. Phone turned off. And she had been dodging calls from her family all week since then.

She had literally never gone five days without talking to her mom in her memory, but she didn’t know what to say. _Yes Mom, I’m dating Scott except not really so don’t panic I’m not throwing away my career. Yes Jordan, I’m dating Scott but not really so don’t get too excited because you will probably be helping put me back together at the end of this mess?_ No, she couldn’t have those conversations. So she had restricted herself to turning her phone on once a day to respond to texts and then turning it back off. Just quick texts confirming she was alive and too busy to chat. It wouldn’t buy her forever, but since they were about to leave for high performance camp, she still had a little more time to figure out what to say.

At least things with her and Scott were normal. Painfully normally really. It was shocking how easy it was to just ignore whatever their friends and family were saying back home three hours away while they were in Michigan. Neither of them brought it up, their fake relationship, because there was just no need. They went about their lives, at the rink, at the gym, at physio, and it was as if everything in Canada had never happened. She didn’t know what she had expected, but she expected something to have changed. Something to go wrong. And so she was stuck waiting for the other shoe to drop, stressed inwardly and trying not to show it.

Tessa packed carefully for high performance camp, just like she always packed carefully. She knew there would be some press shots at least for Skate Canada and planned her practice outfits accordingly. She’d packed the night before, obviously, only needing to add her makeup to her suitcase that morning. She was just double checking everything one last time (more like quadruple checking, but no one was there to count for her), when she heard her front door open.

“T! Ready to go?”

Camp was conveniently in Mississauga, meaning no plane rides needed. Since they were going to be spending most of the time at the rink anyways, Scott and she were only taking one car.

“Yeah, one sec,” she called back from her bedroom. She closed and zipped her suitcase, satisfied she hadn’t forgotten anything. Picking it up, she flicked the light off and headed out.

“Why’d you bother coming in? I could have just come out to the car like usual.”

Scott was standing by the front door on the mat so he didn’t need to take his shoes off. Her skating bag and purse were beside him and she added her suitcase to the pile. He reached over and opened her front closet so she could grab her jacket.

“Usually, I text you that I’m here. Didn’t think that would be too effective today if we both had our phones off.”

Right. That. She shrugged her jacket on and plucked her keys from their bowl by the door.

“Glad I’m not the only one still too chicken to call their mother back.”

Scott grabbed both her suitcase and skating bag while she grabbed her purse. She reached around him to open the door, so he could step out first.

“Yeah well,” he said. “All our therapy has taught me that I shouldn’t talk while angry. And I’m still pretty pissed at Danny and Charlie. Don’t see that changing any time soon either.”

He put her bags into his trunk while she got in his passenger seat. Unfortunately, the cup holders between the seats were empty.

“I know,” Scott said, sliding into the driver’s seat. “But I want Tim’s. Can you survive until we cross the border?”

She sighed melodramatically, as if she hadn’t already had a cup of coffee when she rolled out of bed. “I suppose.”

“Just don’t get cranky with the border agent and I’ll have you properly caffeinated soon enough T.”

Once they crossed the border and hit the first Tim Horton’s drive through, the rest of the drive was easy. Tessa took her usual role as DJ, hopping between radio stations in search of good music and a strong signal. They were so used to the drive, it was no time before the exit signs for London started popping up.

“I feel like I’m missing my turn,” Scott said softly.

“Yeah. Me too.”

It didn’t matter how long they had been in Canton. It still wasn’t home. Canada was home. London was home.

The exits passed and the melancholy moment passed with it. Tessa changed the station to Top 40 so they could sing along as Scott changed lanes and sped onwards leaving London behind.

 

They’d left late morning so that they would be able to check-in to their hotel as soon as they arrived. Skate Canada had everyone in one of the many plain conference hotels that Mississauga was overrun with due to airport proximity and nearby corporate headquarters. Tessa wanted nothing more than a quiet night in with room service, but that went right out the window. After they checked-in, they didn’t even make it to the elevators before they ran into Patrick.

Bags were abandoned on the floor for greetings and hugs.

“So,” Patrick said, standing back to look at the two of them. He had an odd look on his face and Tessa couldn’t figure it out. “Finally, huh?”

She tilted her head, confused.

“Finally? Didn’t know you were that excited for Mississauga man,” Scott said.

Patrick rolled his eyes. “Andrew’s here. I talked to him.”

As if that explained everything.

“Did you all want to get dinner later then?” Tessa questioned. What was he getting at?

“Yeah, sure,” Patrick said. “Let’s do that.”

“Great, I’m in…” Scott checked his key card, “1012 and Tess is in,”

“1010,” she supplied.

“Just come grab us whenever,” Scott finished.

They grabbed their bags again and got in the elevator.

“Was that just me or is Patrick being weird?” The doors closed behind them and the elevator started up.

“Weird,” Scott agreed.

They split up at their rooms, conveniently side by side. As always, the first thing Tessa did was get organized. The hotel closet had four hangers so she picked the four shirts most likely to wrinkle and hung them up. She took out her cosmetics bag to move it to the bathroom when there was a knock on her door. She swung it open and continued on with what she was doing.

“There’s nothing on TV,” Scott complained, closing the door behind himself.

“I’m not in charge of network scheduling,” she replied from the bathroom. She pulled out her own mini shampoo and conditioner and set them in the shower. “Don’t know what you want me to do about it.”

“Let’s watch a movie.”

She emerged to find Scott already settled in the middle of her king sized bed, tv remote in hand.

“You just said there was nothing on.”

“Pay per view?”

“And you came over so it would be on my bill?”

He flashed her his most charming smile. “I came for your company.”

She rolled her eyes, but climbed on the bed beside him anyways.

“If I’m paying, it’s my pick.”

She held out her hand expectantly. He handed her the remote before wrapping his arm around her, pulling her closer. She slid down a little so she could rest her head against his chest as she flipped through their options. There was a distinct lack of classics, so she chose a recent rom com that she had missed when it was in theatres.

“This movie looks terrible T.”

“Don’t be so cheap next time then and you can pick yourself.”

He didn’t protest further. She let herself relax as the movie started. Scott’s steady breathing was soothing as she rose and fell with each of his breaths. At some point, she let her eyes flutter shut.

 

“Tess isn’t answering her door.”

“Shh, this is her door. She’s napping.”

“Oh. Did you guys still want to go for dinner? We’re headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant now.”

She identified the voices before she could pry her eyes open. A loud Patrick and quiet Scott.  
“Yeah, just give us like ten minutes. We’ll meet you down there.”

The door closed and Scott appeared back in the main room.

“You’re up.”

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” she said, her voice rough from sleep still.

“That’s okay kiddo.” He leaned against the wall beside the bed. “You picked a crappy movie anyways.”

“Hey.” She sat up, indignant, as he laughed.

“Are you hungry?”

“Mmhmm, just give me two minutes?”

“I have to grab my wallet. I’ll meet you at the elevator.”

 

The hostess showed them to a curved booth where Patrick, Kaitlyn, and Andrew were already seated. They all got up for hugs before rearranging themselves to sit back down. Tessa found herself at the back, Scott and Patrick on one side, Kaitlyn and Andrew on the other.

The waitress came over delivering two more waters to Tessa and Scott.

“We still need a few minutes with the menu,” Kaitlyn said on behalf of the group.

“Take you time.”

Kaitlyn turned back towards Tessa. Andrew and Patrick followed her lead and Tessa suddenly had a bad feeling about this. They were all smiling, almost maniacally, looking at Tessa. And also at Scott. Oh no.

“Well?” Kaitlyn said, expectantly.

“Oh, have you guys already picked your food? Just give us a second.” Tessa didn’t know what Kaitlyn wanted, but she was sure that wasn’t it. Regardless, she flipped her menu open and started trailing a finger down the appetizers.

“Scott,” Andrew started, “you know I’m still friends with all the Waterloo guys, right?”

It was so pointed. It felt like a trap, but she didn’t know what the trap was or how to avoid it.

“Yeah of course,” said Scott. “What’s up? Talked to them recently?”

“I have in fact.”

“What’s new with them?”

Tessa looked up from the menu to take stock of the table. Andrew was fully focused on Scott but Kaitlyn and Patrick were watching her carefully. She ducked her head again and tried to read the entrees. She was seriously regretting sitting in the middle of the booth with nowhere to go.

“Actually, they said the real news right now in in London.”

Tessa had no clue what was happening in London, having studiously avoided speaking to anyone from home in a week. Without making eye contact with anyone, she took a sip of her water.

“They said you’re a couple.”

Tessa choked. The water got caught and she started coughing.

Scott’s hand flew to her back, comforting her. “Tess, are you okay?”

Her eyes were watering from the coughing, but she shook her head to indicate that it was nothing. Scott was still looking at her, concerned, but that was enough for Kaitlyn to plow forward.

“Why didn’t you tell us? When did this happen?”

Scott stammered through an attempted response. “It’s umm. We just… we were –”

She didn’t have time to think through what she was saying, she just needed to step in for Scott.

“It’s a secret,” Tessa cut him off. “We’re not telling people voluntarily.”

Her brain kicked into overdrive, worrying. Maybe that hadn’t been the right choice. Maybe she should have denied it or told them the truth and called the whole plan off since it was stupid to begin with.

Kaitlyn scoffed. “If you want it to be a secret, you really shouldn’t show up to dinner with sex hair.”

Tessa’s jaw dropped even as her hands instinctively flew to smooth her hair. She might have forgot to look in a mirror before heading down for dinner.

“It’s not sex hair! I had a nap!”

“In Scott’s room?” Patrick joined in. “Room sharing is also not very subtle.”

“It’s my room!” Tessa cried, indignant.

Scott put one arm protectively in front of Tessa, as if to physically hold back the inquisition. “That’s enough guys. Are you our friends or not?”

He waited until the other three looked slightly sheepish before he lowered his arm. She caught his hand after it fell below the top of the table, lacing her fingers with his. If they were about to suffer through this dinner, she figured she should get to take what little comfort she could.

“But you two are together?” Andrew asked, looking for confirmation.

Tessa resisted the urge to turn and check in with Scott before they answered in tandem.

“Yes.”

“Yeah.”

The table erupted, all three of their friends talking at once.

“I knew it! I totally called it! But why didn’t you tell me?”

“Took you two long enough, jeez. Everyone was getting pretty sick of you two being idiots.”

“You couldn’t have given me a heads up? I lost a good chunk of money.”

“You were in that fucking pool too Chiddy? Who the hell wasn’t in the pool?” Scott was getting worked up. Despite gaping at their friends, Tessa tried to take control.

“Okay stop, everyone. Just stop.” When she had everyone’s full attention, she continued. “Who have you guys told? Who knows? Cause this has to stop. Marina cannot find out. Or Igor or Skate Canada or the ISU or CBC or CTV. Seriously, you get that right?”

“I just told Kaitlyn and Patrick,” Andrew said. “And we get it. We won’t say anything. But guys, all of London knows.”

“That’s not skating though. They wouldn’t sell us out,” Scott said with a confidence that Tessa didn’t quite share. She hoped so, but if it had already reached Andrew through old connections, it didn’t bode well. This camp was already shaping up to be an unexpected mess and it didn’t even officially start until tomorrow.

“Really, we’re just happy for you two,” Kaitlyn said with such sincerity that Tessa felt sick. It was all fake after all.

Andrew and Patrick agreed and Tessa gave them a shaky smile.

“Thanks you three,” Scott replied. “We’re going to be playing it cool here so if you could keep it quiet, we’d appreciate it. Are you all ready to order?”

Everyone turned their attention to their menus.

He seemed to be handling this so much better than Tessa was and she didn’t know how. Seeming to sense her poorly concealed panic, Scott leaned in close.

“They won’t say anything,” he whispered. “We’ll be okay.”

Patrick cleared his throat. “Umm, whispering sweet nothings at the table is not very subtle or polite.”

Tessa blushed hard.

“Would you rather have a conversation about that pool?” Scott threatened. Patrick shook his head. “Let’s drop this whole thing then for the night.”

He let go of Tessa’s hand, but gave her thigh a quick, reassuring squeeze before picking up his menu. Unfortunately, Kaitlyn was watching and she winked at Tessa. Rolling her eyes, Tessa tried again to read the damn entrees and to not think about Scott’s hands and her thighs.

 

After surviving a dinner with no less than a dozen innuendos aimed at them, Tessa and Scott headed back to her room to regroup. There was a standing offer to head to Andrew’s room for a couple drinks. She collapsed back against the hallway wall as soon as she got inside and kicked off her shoes.

“I didn’t see that coming,” she sighed.

“Me either.”

Scott pulled up off the wall into his arms. She tucked her head into the crook of his shoulder and relaxed into him.

“At least all our friends are really supportive of our fake relationship.” He sounded almost bitter about it. “I can’t believe the skaters are all in on the pool too. I wish we could get back at all of them”

Oh, he was only bitter because of the pool. That made more sense to Tessa. She’d probably be more worked up about it herself if she wasn’t feeling so melancholy. Everyone they knew seemed to be okay, happy even, for them to be together. It was a hard pill to swallow considering they weren’t actually together and wouldn’t ever be as far as she could tell. It was like a little glimpse of the life she wanted and couldn’t have. She couldn’t very well say that to Scott though, since he was so nicely ignoring her feelings to keep their partnership together. She just had to suck it up.

“Get back at them how?”

“I don’t know kiddo.”

He let one hand run through her hair, gently working out the tangles. Her ‘sex hair’. Yeah, actually, she kind of wanted to get back at Kaitlyn for that comment and at Patrick for the betting and at Andrew for spreading gossip.

“We should make them regret being so interested in our relationship,” she said, getting on board with the idea. “Make them squirm too.”  
“Squirm like having to watch excessive PDA?”

Tessa giggled. “Exactly like that. God, those couples are the worst, the ones who just can’t keep their hands off each other.”

“We could do that, you know.” Scott leaned back so that he could look at her, eyebrows raised in a question.

“You want to?”

“I’m game if you are.”

Tessa bit her lip, considering, but she was already smiling. Somewhere in the back of her head there were alarm bells going off, but she firmly ignored them. “Yeah okay.”

“Do we need boundaries or a game plan?”

“As long as no one but them sees, we should be fine with whatever right? And we get a little bit of payback.”

She put her shoes back on and they went down two floors to Andrew’s room. As she knocked, Scott snaked an arm around her waist.

Andrew opened the door. “You came for drinks after all.”

He let them in and Scott didn’t let go of her as they made their way inside. Patrick was sitting on the end of the bed and Kaitlyn sat at the desk, bottles spread out in front of her.

“We’ve got rum and coke zero or we’ve got vodka waters,” Kaitlyn offered.

Tessa decided to start small. She turned and looked up at Scott. “I’ll make the drinks. What do you want babe?” A pet name. A little pet name that she would never actually use, keeping this firmly in the land of pretend.

“Rum and coke.”

He quickly kissed the top of her head before letting go to find a place to sit. The conversation picked up as Tessa mixed two drinks in plastic-wrapped plastic hotel cups.

Andrew and Scott had both settled on the floor. Tessa passed Scott his drink and his kissed her hand as he took it from her. He was clearly committed to the idea of making everyone squirm, so she reaffirmed her own commitment with herself. They were just messing a little with their friends. It was all harmless.

So she took a spot on the floor too, right between Scott’s legs. She worried for half a second that she was taking things too far before Scott wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her fully back into him.

“Umm Tessa? Scott?” Tessa looked up at Patrick. “You know there are other people in the room, right?”

“Yeah, but you guys know our secret,” Scott said lightly. “And there’s no one else here.”

The others seemed to exchange a look, but chose to move past the moment, carrying on with their former conversation.

Tessa mostly let the conversation wash over her, participating only on an as needed basis. It wasn’t unusual, and no one minded since they’d all known Tessa long enough to know that her hanging out with people at all was a big thing. Scott talked enough to cover them both.

“Yeah, we’re pretty happy with our music choices. Tessa’s love for Audrey is infectious enough that I’m actually really happy with Funny Face. And we aren’t sick of it yet, so that’s a good sign.”

“Are you even aware of how you talk?” Patrick asked.

“What?”

“You and Tessa. You both talk in the plural. Not just in interviews. All the time.”

Andrew nodded. “You do. It’s weird.”

It wasn’t a thing Tessa actively noticed, but when pointed out she knew it was right. She twisted so she could look at Scott, smiling a little. “It’s okay,” she said to the group, but still looking at Scott. “He knows me well enough that he’s the only person allowed to speak on my behalf.” It was the truth, and though she wouldn’t normally say it, it did seem to feed nicely into the ‘being overly sappy’ plan.

Scott tilted his head forward and nuzzled her nose with his. Tessa closed her eyes, getting lost in the intimacy of the moment.

“Same for me,” Scott replied, but so quietly only she could hear.

“You two are actually disgusting,” Kaitlyn complained. Scott pulled back and Tessa snapped back to their surroundings.

“I thought you wanted this,” Scott taunted. “What with the pool and everything.”

“I regret everything,” Patrick deadpanned.

Tessa laughed along with the room while she freaked out internally. This latest plan was obviously a terrible idea even if it was obviously working. She had spent years trying to get over Scott, to be a normal, functioning human. And yet, here she was, sitting wrapped up in him, finding new levels of intimacy with him, all to mess with their friends. And it was all fake.

She picked up the drink she had been neglecting and downed it.

“Want another?” Scott was playing extra attentive apparently.

“Sure.”

She handed him her glass and he got up to fill it. In his absence, Tessa scooted herself back against the wall so she didn’t fall over, taking his spot. Instead, he returned to sit right beside her. His hip pressed into hers. His leg lay right alongside hers, stretching out towards the bed. She knew she shouldn’t think much of it. They cozied up all the time and this was just for show, but her body felt otherwise. It was like every single nerve ending was screaming, wanting to make sure she was perfectly aware of all the places they were touching. It was the exact kind of awareness she worked so hard so shut off, but she couldn’t shut it down.

Blissfully unaware of her inner turmoil, Scott seemed determined to take their plan very seriously. He swept all her hair back and around to fall over her far shoulder. His arm stayed around her, his fingers tracing light lines up and down her arm. But it wasn’t enough for him. Without any fanfare, he leaned in and dropped a short kiss right behind her ear.

She shuddered. She couldn’t help it. And worse, he was still holding her so he had to have felt her reaction. Not that he gave any sign of it. Instead, he was already back to discussing Leafs prospects for the season with Patrick and Andrew, as if he hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary. Which he hadn’t, in terms of their fantasy land where they were a couple. But in the course of the normal relationship, neck kisses were firmly reserved for on the ice during Latin routines. Because they were friends and friends didn’t kiss each other’s necks.  

In one of her greatest feats of compartmentalization, Tessa turned to ask Kaitlyn about when she had last got to go home to see her family. She ordered herself to stop thinking about all things that were just for show and didn’t actually mean anything and that she wouldn’t get to repeat no matter how much she wanted to. She made it half an hour with the liquor helpfully kicking in to numb her mind a little. Then she made her excuses about needing a good night’s sleep.

“I’ll come with you,” Scott said, shifting as if to stand up.

“No,” she grabbed his arm, keeping him grounded. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, the most she could let herself do at that moment to keep up the charade. “You stay and hang out. I’m okay.”

She disentangled herself and stood up, heading out with a last quick set of ‘good night’s all around.

A good night’s sleep was not in the cards for her though. Instead, she became very well acquainted with her hotel ceiling while all her normal techniques for focusing and calming failed her. She could still feel his hands ghosting all over her and slept restlessly when she did finally fall asleep.

  


Somehow, they survived the rest of the camp. Their friends were good to their word and nothing seemed to get back to anyone else about their “relationship”. That meant when the other skaters arrived and joined them, they were back to “hiding their secret” even during evening socials. And none of their coaches, Skate Canada, or the press seemed to pick up on anything unusual.

Tessa did her very best to be her normal self around Scott whenever anyone was around. If anything, she ended up avoiding his touch more than anything. Partially out of paranoia that somehow someone would find out that they were “dating”, but mostly she was just trying to protect herself. She needed to focus on their skating and his touch was more intoxicating than usual after their antics the other night. When Scott called her on it, after she had abruptly dropped his hand at the end of their practice, she only told him the first reason about paranoia. He bought it and didn’t push her. Really though, she needed to put some distance back between them before she ended up believing her own lie. Somehow. Without screwing up their partnership or friendship. She just needed to get her head on straight. If only her brain would stop remembering the feel of his lips on her skin off the ice. Oh god, she was fucked.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's a proper length chapter finally. Please, tell me all your lovely thoughts, I love to hear them truly.  
> I likely will not be updating for a while because life unless I get sick again so I hope this tides you over. I will always be over on tumblr though if you want to ask for updates or anything there.  
> <3 Take care!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A New Semester

They drove back to Michigan late after the last full day of camp and a final dinner with the people who didn’t need to catch flights. Tessa felt bad about how relieved she was to be leaving the other skaters. She really did like them, but she was so sick of having to avoid so much as glancing at Kaitlyn for fear of her suggestive eyebrows. She just wanted to get back to the States where she wasn’t fake dating Scott. She couldn’t think of a single other time she had actually been relieved to be leaving Canada, but she was that time.

The sun was already gone by the time they passed London and she almost missed the signs for the exit altogether. She was quiet for most of the ride, still wrapped up in her own head. It wasn’t fair to Scott, she was being a terrible passenger. The whole point of driving together was not being alone (and also gas money). She could recognize that fact, but she still couldn’t pull herself out of her thoughts enough to start a conversation.

“Want to talk about it?”

There was Scott, filling in for her shortcomings again, being the one to fill the heavy silence. She wasn’t sure exactly what he was referring to. He could have meant camp or the fake dating thing or her current mute behaviour. All of them were running through her head. Regardless, the answer was the same.

“Not really.”

They both watched the road in front of them, speeding by beneath them.

“You’ll come talk to me whenever you’re ready, right?”

She hated that he had to ask that. For him to ask that, it meant he really had internalized just how much she had been pulling back from him the last couple days compared to their usual standard. She might be able to fake normal with everyone else, but never with him. He always knew when something was off with her.

“Promise,” she said. She meant it. First, she just needed to get her own head in order, and maybe her heart too.

Without taking his eyes off the road, he shifted to rest his elbow on the console between them. He tilted his hand just enough to make it an offer to her, but not enough that she had to acknowledge it if she didn’t want to.

She took his hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the tension visibly leave his body. She really had been the worst car ride companion on this trip. She had just left him to his own devices and couldn’t even keep him entertained while he drove through the dark.

He brought their arms up towards him, twisting them slightly. Softly, he pressed his lips to the inside of her wrist for a long moment. When a semi slowed their progress and he needed to pass, he gave her her hand back. The radio was playing ads, so she searched until she found the country station. It was the least she could do for him.

“Did I tell you about my classes this semester?”

He shook his head.

“Well,” she started. It wasn’t the most interesting conversation topic, but it was better than nothing. Or so she hoped. She told him all about the two classes she was taking, hoping that she wouldn’t need to drop either as competitions kicked up in a few months.

And then the border signs started popping up. All the weirdness of the past few days, the lies and the (staged) PDA and the internal freak outs, could be firmly left in Canada. A clear dividing line between messy and normal complete with passport checks. It was just what she needed.

They got back to her place and Scott automatically got out of the car too. Without her asking, he carried her bags up to her door for her setting them down just inside her apartment.

“Thanks.” For the bags, for driving, for dealing with her weirdness. She meant it lots of way.

He nodded in acknowledgement. Leaning in, he gave her a quick cheek kiss.

“Night Tess,” he said, running a hand all the way down her arm.

His touch just burned the regular amount, not the all-consuming nerve explosion it had been on Andrew’s hotel room floor. She was able to set it aside like she normally did without so much as a hitch of her breath. This was just them, real not pretend. She gave him an easy smile in response, feeling lighter than she had in days.

“Night.”

She locked the door behind him and didn’t lean back against it in longing. She didn’t chew on her lip, lost in thought. She just picked up her bags and moved them to her bedroom because everything was back to normal. She had made an active decision to leave her feelings in Canada and that was exactly what she was determined to do. Getting ready for bed, she mentally ran through all her usual mental calming exercises and they worked.

 

Despite their midnight arrival back in Canton, they still had practice in the morning. Tessa had actually slept well, better than she had during camp (excepting that pre dinner nap the first night that had been pretty good) despite the reduced number of hours. She felt better. She felt like her normal 22 year old self with her feelings properly put back in their boxes to be dealt with… eventually… probably... maybe.

They had a great morning practice. They had all the feedback from camp to incorporate, but her head was in the game and it all seemed manageable. Lunch time came and Tessa found herself smiling at nothing as they skated to the boards to grab their guards.

“We’re going to have a good season, I can just feel it,” she said.

“Woah, T. Since when do you make statements that could jinx things?”

“I’m just in a good mood, don’t wreck it.” She hip bumped him teasingly and earned a grin in response.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

 She stepped off the ice, slapping her guards on as she went.

“I’m off to PT. You’re headed for the gym?”

“Yeah, and then you’re headed to campus right?”

It was the first day of the new fall semester. “Yup, so I’ll see you later.”

They didn’t have any plans or anything. Later would most likely mean tomorrow morning back at the rink. They parted to their respective change rooms to get on with the rest of their day. She scarfed down a bit of food before PT and a bit more on her way to Windsor to campus since school meant her usual busy schedule could no longer fit a normal lunch break.

Tessa was ten minutes early to her class and headed in to find a seat just as soon as the previous class let out. She chose the second row, right along the middle aisle. Close enough to be properly invested, but not the front row because that would look overeager. The room filled in as the minutes ticked by. She set up her laptop, opening a fresh word doc for notes. People passed behind her to sit in the same row and she pulled her chair a little closer to the desk, out of the way.

Her laptop said class was supposed to start in a minute and she swivelled to verify that the room’s clock was matching. For whatever silly reason, the clock was on the back wall, over top of the door.

Oh shit.

Who could possibly be walking through the door except that guy from Michelle’s party? Brian. Of course he has to be in the same statistics for psych course as her. That’s just how the universe worked. She saw his eyes flash in recognition of her and she gave him a tight lipped polite smile before quickly turning back around.

Immediately she picked up her phone.

_You’ll never guess who is in my class. That guy from the party._

She added the unamused emoji to the end of her text and hit send. The professor was taking his place at the front of the room, so Tessa slid her phone into her bag.

The eighty minute class flew by, with Tessa taking what was probably an unnecessary amount of notes given that half the time was spent on the syllabus. When the class was almost over, she started pre-emptively packing up her stuff. She assumed that Brian wouldn’t try to talk to her, probably put off after the whole boyfriend thing, but she didn’t feel like giving him the opportunity. As soon as the professor finished talking, she was out of her chair, shoving her laptop into her bag as she went.

She slung her bag over her shoulder. Eyes purposely trained directly ahead of her, she walked straight out of the room, turned right and froze.

There was Scott, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, casual as could be. He’d changed out of practice gear into jeans and a well fitted, green Henley and she couldn’t help but think he looked damn good. She opened her mouth to ask him what the hell he was doing there, but didn’t get the chance. The moment he saw her, he reached out and pulled her to him.

“Hi girlfriend,” he whispered, his lips pressed right against her ear.

It was a damn good thing she was facing directly into a wall because she couldn’t school her face to keep the shock off it. Or the lust, if she was being honest.

He pressed a kiss right where his lips had landed at the top of her jaw. And then another. And another. Slowly, he left lingering kisses all the way down to the very edge of her lips. He had a firm grasp on her hips, keeping her nearly pressed against him, leaving just the smallest distance between them. She felt helpless to do anything, completely overwhelmed, and yet somehow her fingers found themselves curled into his hair.

His eyes trapped hers, possibly closer than they ever had been, as their noses brushed.

“Hi,” she murmured, almost right against his mouth, but not quite. She leaned back a smidge to keep herself from closing the space between them.

“Just thought I’d drop by,” he said, his voice almost its normal tone but not quite.

She quirked an eyebrow at him in question.

“Wouldn’t want any of your classmates bothering you,” he said, dropping his voice low again.

Suddenly remembering that they were in the middle of campus, Tessa scanned the hallway around them. Her class had filed out already and Brian was long gone.

“Oh god,” she groaned, her brain catching up with what had just happened.

Scott’s hands immediately dropped off of her. “What?”

“My prof probably just saw that. He must think I’m a hussy or something and it’s only the first day of class.”

Scott laughed. “A hussy? Really Tess, that’s the word you go with?”

She shoved him lightly. “Don’t mock me.”

“Sorry.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Since I’m here, want to show me around campus a little?”

“Sure.”

His arm took up residence around her waist as the started slowly strolling down the hallway.

“This,” she gestured at the space around them, “is where I have most of my psych classes. Perfectly boring and not at all worth showing off.”

They headed outside and she pointed out some of the various buildings around them.

“That’s the business building. I’ve had electives there before. That’s the building I got lost in once trying to find my prof’s office for office hours. I was late to meet him. It was awful.”

“Probably by a whole two minutes I’m guessing.”

She glared at his smirk. “Two minutes is still late.”

The in-between class rush was dying down and the paths between buildings were clearing out.

“Want to grab some Tim’s?”

“Lead the way.”

She headed towards the Tim’s she guessed would be less busy at this time of day. They wandered a little while in silence. Her shirt had ridden up a little leading Scott’s thumb to be directly against her skin. Despite all the hours a day that he spent with his hands all over her, this was different. He was drawing the tiniest circles against her skin, so light she almost thought she was imagining it. Somehow, even more than the kisses outside her class, it was this that was driving her crazy. She had no idea what was happening. He’d clearly signaled initially that he was just keeping up their charade, calling her his girlfriend, when Brian could have seen. But now they were just walking through campus, with no reason for him to keep it up. She didn’t know what to think.

“Why are you here?” She kept her tone conversational, trying not to grill him.

“You didn’t respond to my texts.”

“I was in class.”

“Yeah, I figured. I thought I’d just come in case you needed me.”

That mostly tracked with her. Scott was always protective and she had given him very little information in the text she sent before class. Still, it all seemed a bit much, border crossing and all.

“How did you even know where I was?”

“You told me all about your courses last night T. I listen. I’m perfectly capable of googling a couple class times and looking up a building map.” He’d started his explanation his normal confident self, but became sheepish as he went on. “Shit, that’s what stalkers do isn’t it?”

Tessa giggled. “You’re hardly a stalker given that I voluntarily spend half my waking hours with you.”

They got in the (thankfully short) Tim’s line. They ordered and she paid since he had driven over here for her.

“Where’d you park?” she asked.

“The visitor’s parkade.”

“I’ll walk you back so you don’t get lost.”

They both had their drinks to carry, but Tessa linked her arm through his anyways. She wrapped both hands around her tea, soaking in the warmth.

“I’m glad I finally got to see your campus.”

She smiled up at him. Now that she thought about it, campus was basically the only part of her life that he’d never been a part of. Not anymore. She was pretty sure she was going to be stuck blushing every single time she walked past that wall from now on.

“If that guy ever bothers you, just let me know and I can make a reappearance.”

She laughed. “I doubt he will after that performance today. Pretty sure you convinced a whole building of people that I’m not single.”

He shrugged, but he had a smug look on his face. He could be such a show off.

They reached the parking garage and she gave him a one armed hug. If she lingered more than a little too long, or consciously inhaled in his cologne that she already knew so well, she wasn’t going to hold it against herself. They were in Canada. They were fake dating here. And she would have to leave her feelings here again in a few minutes when she crossed the border back.

“What are your evening plans?” he asked as the broke apart.

“Nothing in particular,” she shrugged.

“Come over and I’ll make you dinner. We can put on a movie.”

“My pick?”

“No. I cook, I pick.”

“Let me cook then.”

“T, I don’t want my kitchen burned down.”

She wanted to be mad at him for that comment, but she couldn’t pretend that she hadn’t set off her own smoke alarm just last week.

“Fine, fine. I’ll follow you back to your place.”

She walked away, back to the student parking lot, thinking just how much their evening plans sounded like a date. Obviously, it wasn’t. They did dinner and movies all the time. But her traitor brain kept telling her that he had asked in Canada, where they were a (fake) couple, so it was kind of a date.

She took her phone out of her bag as she walked, checking the messages she had missed. Sure enough, Scott had messaged her back while she was in class.

_from michelle’s party?_

_is he bothering you?_

_you ok?_

It was the reminder she needed that he had only come because he was worried about her. They were not dating. She was going to go have dinner with her best friend, not her boyfriend, and that was okay. She’d never lose him as her best friend and having him at all in any capacity was the important part.

She unlocked her car, got in, and headed back to the States. The simple, uncomplicated States where her skating partner would be waiting for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! A whole new chapter! This is actually the chapter I most wanted to write when I thought up this idea. We've got at least two chapters left of this story. The last chapter is already half written, but we are not there yet. I'll find time eventually to write the next chapter, just don't know when.  
> As always, in addition to the comments here, you can find me over on tumblr: https://obviouslynotadragon.tumblr.com/


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cell Phones

“You can do this Tessa. It’ll be okay. You can do this.”

Tessa was pacing her living room, talking out loud to herself. At the end of every lap, when she passed the end table, she stared down at her phone sitting there. Not ready yet, she took another lap.

“You’re wasting your night. Get it over with.”

As she came around the couch again, she took a deep breath in. She gingerly picked up her phone. Progress! She hadn’t managed to touch her phone in the last ten minutes of pacing. On a roll, she swiped it open and pulled up her contact list. Before she could freak out and throw her phone against the couch, she hit call.

It rang twice before she answered.

“Hello.”

“Hi Mom.”

“Ahh, the prodigal daughter returns.”

She rolled her eyes hard enough that she thought her mom might be able to hear it.

“Moooom,” she moaned.

“Your phone isn’t broken then.”

“Mom.”

“Should we skip right to the good stuff then? Since it might be another three weeks before you manage to find time to talk to your own mother.”

Tessa held the phone a little bit away while she sighed. “How about you fill me in on you? How’s work been?”

“That’s not going to work sweetie.”

“Mom… I don’t…” Despite having spent days agonizing over what to say, she hadn’t actually come up with anything. She just knew that she needed to start dealing with the mess because she missed her family. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Let’s start with the basics,” her mom said patiently. “So, you’re dating Scott.”

That wasn’t basic at all, but there was no way her mom could know that.

“We… things are…” Calling without a firm game plan was clearly a terrible idea.

“Tessa, is everything okay?” For the first time on the call, her mom sounded worried.

“Yeah.” She exhaled slowly, buying herself a moment. “Yeah, I’m okay Mom. I’m just not really ready to talk about anything yet. Sorry.”

“Just tell me a couple things then. Are you and Scott okay?”

“We are,” she confirmed solemnly. They were.

“And skating is going well?”

“The new programs are great,” she said, mustering a bit more enthusiasm. “They’re really coming along.”

“I suppose that’s enough for today then. What are you willing to talk about?”

“Tell me about home? What have I missed?”

“Sure sweetie.”

Her mom got her caught up on her brothers, and her sister (“You have to call her too though.” “I know.”), and their family friends. Three weeks of silence meant Tessa had actually missed a fair bit of news, and the conversation stretched towards the half hour mark.

“I should really go Mom. I’ll call you in a couple days.”

“Talk to you soon sweetie.”

Hitting end on the call, Tessa let herself flop backwards onto her couch. She felt lighter. She had kind of just kicked the can down the road for another day, but at least she had actually talked to her mom. She felt a little silly for having avoided it for so long. It really wasn’t that bad. She was an adult, her mom got that. She got to make her own life choices and she didn’t need to tell her mom the details of all of them.

She opened her messages to text Scott and give him a heads up that she had called home, but she stopped. She had a better idea. Looking down at her clothes, Tessa considered changing, but quickly abandoned the idea. Scott wouldn’t care if she showed up in pajama shorts and an oversized t-shirt. She wouldn’t be staying long anyways. Instead, she grabbed her purse, picked up her car keys and headed out. It was a short drive. Tessa had a key to Scott’s apartment, just like he did to hers, but she didn’t like using it. Instead, she knocked and waited.

He barely glanced at her when the door swung open before he rushed right back to the couch and the tv.

“It’s the first game of the preseason T,” he called, leaving her to invite herself in.

“How could have I forgotten?” she joked.

She slipped off her flats and joined him, curling her feet up underneath her on the couch. The Leafs already had scored with four minutes left in the first period. She waited until there was a lull in the action before speaking.

“I called my mom finally.”

Scott didn’t take his eyes off the screen, but he reached out a hand to her knee. “How’d it go?”

“Fine.”

His eyes darted towards her for a half a second.

“Really?” he asked, clearly skeptical.

“Really.”

“That’s good Tess.”

“Have you talked to your parents yet?”

He huffed in annoyance, but she didn’t know if it was the fact the she was talking during the game, her line of questioning, or the shot that the Leafs missed.

“Nope.”

“I think you should.”

He left her statement unanswered much to her annoyance. She still felt bad, getting him into this whole mess to begin with, and she didn’t like that Alma and Joe were now also suffering because of her. She pursed her lips as she pondering the right way to go about fixing this. It seemed so easy now that she had talked with her mom, surely Scott could also have a mature conversation with his parents too. He probably just needed a nudge.

The clock ticked down the last minute of the period. Scott was fully focused on the action, leaning forwards towards the tv. It was kind of cute how he could get almost as absorbed in a game as he did in their routines, blocking out the rest of the world. She took advantage of the moment and plucked his phone off the coffee table in front of them. To no surprise, he didn’t acknowledge what she had done if he had even noticed at all.

Thirty three seconds left in the period. She unlocked his phone and opened up his contact menu, scrolling just as she had through her own. Before she could think better of it, she hit call.

It rang. And rang. And rang. Twelve seconds left in the period.

“Scott!” The enthusiastic greeting was so sweet, Tessa felt even worse about how she had kept Scott from his family for weeks.

“Hi Alma.” Scott’s head snapped to face her, eight seconds before the period ended.

“Oh Tessa! It’s so good to hear from you. We’ve missed you.”

She watched Scott as she listened to his mom speak. His face was cycling through emotions somewhere between shock, disbelief, and anger.

“I’ve missed you guys too,” she said sincerely. Scott’s eyes bore into her and he mouthed her name soundlessly, adding the ‘a’ on the end and everything. It was a bad sign when he was calling her ‘Tessa’. He really wasn’t happy. She barrelled on anyways. It much too late to reconsider. “Scott has a few minutes to chat between periods, but I just wanted to say hi first.”

“That’s so sweet. Make sure you come by next time you’re back home.”

“Of course. It’s been too long.” Tessa couldn’t help smiling despite the real possibility that Scott was going to murder her. His family was like family to her after all these years. “I’ll pass you over to Scott though before the second period starts.”

She held out his phone and Scott reluctantly took it. He stood up, phone to his ear.

“Hi Mom.”

He frowned at Tessa one more time before walking away, responding to his mother as he went. “Yes Mom – yes, I know – I know.” He shut himself in his bedroom, out of earshot.

The Zamboni circled over the rink on tv, a familiar sight, before switching to a room filled with commentators. Tessa took her phone from her purse, opening Facebook to scroll during the break. She only kept her closest friends and family on her fiercely private account which meant that she was happy to see every single picture posted in her feed.

When the tv switched back to showing the rink, the next period about to start, she called out. “Scott, game time!”

He might be mad at her now, but he would be angrier if he missed a minute of the Leafs.

He hurried back to the living room, still on the phone.

“Yes. I promise. Goodnight Mom.”

He sat back down on the couch as he hung up, pressing himself against the far side, as much space between them as possible. He kept his phone in his lap. The puck dropped and Tessa settled in to wait him out until the next commercial break. Luckily, the Leafs scored again. Scott cheered, his mood improved somewhat.

When a Coke ad started, she expected him to turn to her and ream her out. He didn’t.

“Scott,” she reprimanded. He couldn’t just freeze her out.

“Tessa.” He still kept staring straight ahead.

“Talk to me, come on.”

“Do I get a choice in the matter? Seems like you’re you the one making the choices here tonight.” The words stung like they were supposed to.

“It couldn’t have been that bad.”

“I don’t like lying to my mom, T,” he said quietly.

“Why’d you lie?”

He turned to her in slow motion, his jaw falling open in disbelief. He cocked his head to the side, eyebrows raised, in an over the top picture of incredulity.

“Because we agreed! We said we were going to let everyone think we were dating for a month and it hasn’t been a month yet! What was I supposed to say?”

“Nothing, if you didn’t want to. That’s what I did with my mom.”

“What do you mean you told your mom nothing? She didn’t ask about us?”

“She did. I just told her I wasn’t ready to talk about it.”

“And you couldn’t have suggested that little idea to me before you surprise called my own mother on my behalf?”

It had never actually occurred to Tessa that Scott would do anything other than hedge like she had. Maybe, she thought, he would have just told his mom the truth and trusted her to hide it from his brothers.

“Sorry,” she offered. Scott expression softened slightly in response but not much. “I just realized how much of home I had been missing out on this month, and I didn’t want you missing out any more because of me.”

“You should have said that to me first before calling and let me make my own decision.” He wasn’t ready to let it go quite yet, but she could tell he was going to.

The commercials ended and they both turned back to watch the game. The Senators scored, but the Leafs followed right behind them making it 3-1 at the end of the period. Despite the action, Tessa was seriously sleepy. She snuggled herself deeper into the cushions, her head falling down against the arm. She stretched out as much as she could without invading Scott’s space.

“Tess, you’re going to be passed out on my couch soon. Maybe you should go home to your bed.”

She shook her head, too lazy to flip around to look at him. “I’m not leaving while you’re still mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you kiddo.”

“Bullshit.”

She shifted enough to see him looking down on her, exasperated. He reached out and took her ankles, stretching her out across the rest of the couch, calves resting on his lap. He left one arm draped around her legs while the other ran though his hair.

“I’m not.”

She believed him that time. He was never touchy or cuddly while mad, wanting to just be left entirely alone to steam. Good sense would tell her that she should have left it at that and moved on. Gone home that is.

“I’ll stay and keep you company for the rest of the game.”

Then, because she just couldn’t leave well enough alone, “Do you want to tell me what your mom said?”

“Absolutely not,” he replied flatly, leaving no room for argument.

It irked her. It shouldn’t have, but it did. She knew it was none of her business (even if she had made it her business half an hour ago), but she wanted to know. The conversation had been about her after all. About them. Alma had probably told him what a bad idea it was. She probably just reiterated the lectures they had both got as teenagers from just about everyone. Scott hated being lectured, so that wouldn’t have been a fun conversation for him. But maybe she hadn’t said that. Maybe she was happy for them.

No. That was a fucking dangerous train of thought. She didn’t need Alma to be happy for her to date Scott since she wasn’t dating him. Her imagination was getting the best of her and it wasn’t okay.

The Leafs won easily, 4-2. Despite Tessa’s best efforts at staying awake and her racing thoughts, she was barely holding on to consciousness at the end. Gentle strokes down her legs, massaging her calves, got her attention.

“C’mon Tess, time for bed.”

“One minute,” she said, ordering herself to keep her eyes open. “I’ll head home just as soon as I remember how to sit up.”

“You can’t drive T,” he said softly. “I’m pretty sure you’re sleeping talking as it is. Besides, you wore your pajamas here anyways. Just go crawl into bed, okay?”

Tessa hummed, that sounded like a good idea. His bed was much closer than hers. She heaved herself up and shuffled to his room. Not bothering to turn on any lights, she took the far side of the bed. Scott padded softly into the room a few minutes later, by which time she had cocooned herself in his blankets. She felt the mattress sink a little with his weight as he joined her.

“Give me some of those.” He tugged on her blankets surrounding her that she was reluctant to give up. “You can’t hog them all.”

She slackened her grip slightly, letting him pull the blankets a little bit away from her.

“You’re so frustrating sometimes,” he groaned, sliding closer to her to join her under the blankets. The words barely registered as she drifted off to sleep.

 

Tessa started keeping her phone on again, like a normal person. Most people had stopped texting her about Scott after three weeks of radio silence. The only special consideration she had to keep taking was avoiding phone calls with Jordan. Where her mother had been respectful, Jordan was sure to poke, prod, and pry until she heard everything there was to hear. That conversation could wait until her and Scott “broke up”.

She was back to being able to check her phone during breaks on the ice. A couple days after the Leafs preseason opener, she skated over to the boards to find a text from Michelle.

_Guess who’s coming to Detroit! Paul is driving down for a concert Saturday. Are you free?_

She quickly typed out an affirmative.

_Yeah! Can’t be out late though, early morning practice._

She took a long sip from her water bottle, watching the Shibutanis working through lift. They’d been working on it all morning and it was coming along. Her phone buzzed, Michelle getting back to her right away.

_That’s okay, would you be up for dinner with us? You don’t need to join for the concert if it’s too late._

Dinner would be good, and then she’d get to know Paul a little better which was a rare opportunity since she wasn’t home much. She still couldn’t exactly remember if Paul was the boyfriend or roommate, but she was leaning towards boyfriend.

_Dinner sounds great!_

“Ready T?” Scott skated up, hand outstretched. She dropped her phone back down and took his hand, getting back to work.

As usual, her day was packed. She hurried off the ice after practice and unlaced her skates as fast as her fingers would work. She really wanted to squeeze in a coffee stop on her way to campus. She changed and rushed out of the rink, not checking her phone again until her car was already running. Michelle had replied right away.

_Perfect, pick your favourite restaurant and make a reservation for 4. Can’t wait to finally get to double date with you! :)_

Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to just go ahead and hope you don't hate me for that ending since you can guess what's coming next and I think that should make up for it? Please don't hate me. Because of Reasons, I decided this was the best place to end the chapter.  
> Hopefully I won't keep you waiting toooooo long for the next update but if I don't get it out by end of day tomorrow it won't be coming until next week. Until then, take care <3  
> (Please feel free to yell at me in the comments though)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Double Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two quick things:  
> 1) Someone complained that I didn't write Scott and Tessa waking up in the last chapter, so I wrote a couple hundred words of that for them in the comments of the last chapter. Apparently I take requests now.  
> 2) This chapter is > 6000 words. Plan your time according.

Double date.

The words bounced around in Tessa’s head, fully distracting her from her class. Double date. She hadn’t seen it coming. She went through the motions of the rest of her day, but didn’t really process that much of what was going on.

She should have texted Michelle back right away and told her no, it would just be a table for three. But in her surprise she didn’t reply at all, basically confirming by default that the plan was fine. It obviously wasn’t.

She _could not_ go on a double date with Scott as her date in Detroit. First off, they weren’t dating. Second, it would be awkward. Third, it might make it harder to sell their “break up” in a week or two. Fourth, someone from the rink could see because, fifth, it would be in Detroit. Detroit was not in Canada. She was only fake dating Scott in Canada. Things were messy in London and Mississauga and Windsor, but normal in the States. She didn’t freak out about every damn caress in the States. That dividing line needed to stay intact in order for her to focus on skating (and just for her general sanity). She compartmentalized for a reason and she couldn’t possibly risk freaking out every time Scott touched her on the ice with Grand Prix season right around the corner.

So she needed to just tell Michelle she would be going alone. That was the only reasonable option. Yet she couldn’t make herself send that text. There would be a whole different problem if she did. She’d have to go to dinner alone and would inevitably get grilled the whole time about a relationship she wasn’t in. She’d have to lie through the entire thing by herself. She wasn’t quite sure she would actually survive that.

It wasn’t until she got back to her apartment that it properly registered with her that this wasn’t just her problem. Regardless of what happened, Scott was going to be involved again. Her dumb, off the cuff decision to make him her fake boyfriend at one party was going to continue to interrupt his life. She couldn’t ask him to give up his Saturday night to bail her out again. Surely, he had things he would rather be doing.

In fact, the more she thought about it, the more likely it was he would already have plans, making this whole thing moot. She just needed to confirm that and then the decision would be out of her hands. Scott was terrible with his phone, even if he wasn’t keeping it turned off either anymore. Not wanting to wait three business days for a text response, she called him.

“Hey T,” he answered promptly. His voice was distant and the sound off meaning he was on Bluetooth. “What’s wrong?”

“You have plans Saturday night, right?”

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line.

“Umm no? Nothing planned yet. Why?”

“Shit,” she muttered. Her prior relief was quickly extinguished. She bit her bottom lip, teeth dragging across it while she thought. She was back to having to find a way out of this whole thing.

“Tess?”

She’d almost forgotten she was on the phone. “Oh. Sorry. Just… sorry. Never mind. Bye.”

She hung up and started pacing her apartment, round and round her kitchen and living room. This whole month had been so stressful, she was worried that she might actually wear her floors down. Tessa had seen enough HGTV to know what a pain in was to refinish floors and how much it cost. She needed to pace somewhere new.

She tramped over to her bedroom and made herself a new loop, from one nightstand around the bed to the other. It didn’t matter how many laps she did, she couldn’t come up with a third option. Either Scott came with her, selfishly making him suffer just so she wouldn’t have to face Michelle alone, or she had to squirm by herself for a couple hours and hope she didn’t mess up and give anything away.

The thing that finally snapped her out of her pacing was the unexpected sound of her door clicking open.

“Tess?”

“Scott?” She hurried out of her room to find Scott shucking off his jacket in her entranceway. “What are you doing here?”

“You hung up on me after the weirdest, shortest phone call.”

Oh yeah. That.

“You didn’t need to come over.” She scuffed her socked foot against the floor, avoiding eye contact. Again, she was ruining another one of his nights.

“I was on my way home when you called. It’s fine.”

When she looked up, he titled his head towards the living room, reminding her that they should really move this conversation to a normal spot. Tessa took up residence in her oversized armchair, leaving Scott alone on the couch. She felt a little too frazzled to be sitting next to him.

“So,” he looked at her expectantly. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

The answer to that was simple: no. But she knew that wasn’t going to fly at this point. She fiddled with her ring, twisting it around her finger, stalling for time.

“Fine.” Scott took a deep breath in before starting in on her. “You’ve been weird on and off for a month now. I have no idea what’s going on with you anymore and we need to talk about it, either here or with our therapist. I’d prefer here, but it’s your call.”

He wasn’t wrong and he was fully within his rights to insist. That was how their partnership worked. They needed to communicate in order to skate. She didn’t have to like it though.

“Here,” she answered, quietly.

“Let’s start small. Why’d you call Tess?” He kept his tone level, neutral, taking the whole thing very seriously. She felt awfully silly in comparison, but she told him the truth.

“Michelle’s coming to Detroit. She wants us to get dinner on Saturday.” Scott didn’t react, so she clarified, “ _Us_ as in you and me. A double date with her and her boyfriend, here in Michigan.”

“You called to ask me to go to dinner then? And hung up instead?” He was clearly confused and trying to understand.

“No, I was calling in hopes you had plans so I could tell Michelle that it couldn’t happen. I may have accidentally already told her yes before I understood that she wanted you there too.”

“You don’t want me to come with you,” he concluded, face still schooled clear of any real emotion.

“No, I do,” she insisted. She hadn’t even fully realized that was true until she said it, but it was. She wanted him with her. She always wanted him with her. “But…”

She left the sentence hanging unfinished.

“Then I’ll come. If you want me there, I’m there.”

“It’s in Detroit!” she blurted out in protest.

Scott’s eyebrows rose slowly, looking at her exactly like she had just screamed an obvious fact for no apparent reason. Which she had. “Because we’re in Detroit and they’re visiting here. That’s the whole point.”

Right, the border problem of only dating Scott in Canada was just a weird thing she had made up in her head, not something he would implicitly understand. And she couldn’t explain it to him without having a painful discussion about why she needed boundaries to deal with her feelings.

“Let’s consider dinner on Saturday settled.”

She shook her head violently in disagreement. “You shouldn’t have to come, Scott. It’s too much.” Once she finally got started, the words poured out of her. “You didn’t sign up for this. We only agreed that we’d let everyone _think_ we were dating. You weren’t supposed to have to actually date me. I don’t want you to have to look after me all the time. You keep bailing me out. That shouldn’t be your job. Even tonight, I’m taking up your whole evening again. It’s not fair to you.”

“You have to stop Tess,” he said forcefully. He leaned towards her, staring her down as he talked. “Stop trying to make my choices for me. I can decide for myself what’s too much and I’m perfectly capable of saying no. I decided to come over here. If you want to send me away because you don’t want me here, that’s fine and you should. But if you want to send me away because you think I don’t want to be here, then no. That’s not your call to make.

“So what do you want Tess? For you. Not for me.”

She answered before she had time to overthink it. “I want you to come with me Saturday. Will you?”

“Yes.”

She gave him a small smile, trying to lighten the mood a little. He was still looking at her, eyes all care and concern as if she was breakable. Despite what he said, she knew he was just doing her a favour, but she’d take it anyways.

“That’s today sorted. What about everything else? What’s going on with you kiddo?”

There was fine line she needed to balance in her answer. She had to tell him the truth, but she also wasn’t about to tell him everything. She needed to tell him just enough without actually mentioning the fact that they both knew she was in love with him.

“The whole fake dating thing. It’s been a bit much for me,” she admitted. “With Kaitlyn and the boys at camp and Jordan’s increasingly obsessive texts – ” which had been getting worse the longer Tessa put her off. Every single text Jordan sent her ended with a reminder that she wanted juicy details. Since Tessa just ignored that part of the texts, Jordan was starting to turn it into a guessing game where she suggested more and more outrageous things, quickly going from PG to R rated, asking Tessa to confirm or deny. “ – and missing my mom and just the stress of the season. We need to have a good season after everything last year, and I wasn’t expecting this to keep popping up and interfering.”

“We can just end it, Tess.” His hands twisted in his lap the same way they did in interviews when he was thinking up an answer on the fly. “We were trying to make our lives easier by getting everyone to back off, but if it’s making it harder for you, we don’t have to. We’ll just tell everyone you broke up with me and it’ll be done.”

She laughed, a short snicker escaping her. “You mean that you broke up with me.”

“No T, I’m definitely the one getting my heart stomped all over in this situation.” He grinned at her, joking so easily about it.

“Guess we can’t break up then until we agree on who’s ending it because it’s only believable if you are the one dumping me.” As much as she meant it, she tried to match his light tone. No one who knew them would ever believe that she’d break up with him. Her obvious infatuation was what had gotten them into this situation in the first place.

He shook his head, eyes rolling. “Tessa.”

She’d had just about enough of this conversation. She did feel a bit better though. Lighter. It was nice to stop pretending that she was totally fine, even if she hadn’t told him everything. And Scott was also obviously done quizzing her if he had moved on to joking.

“I was going to make dinner before you got here,” she said. She had been – just as soon as she had stopped pacing anyways. “Have you ate yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Let’s see what I have kicking around the kitchen then.”

They both stood up, but automatically moved towards each other instead of the kitchen. She stepped into his open arms, tucking herself beneath his chin. They fit together perfectly.

“Don’t shut me out anymore. Please Tess,” he murmured, his lips pressing against the top her head. “It’s us. You and me.”

She held him a little bit tighter. “Always.”

She didn’t let the moment go on too long. “You check the fridge and I’ll rummage through the cupboards,” she ordered, letting go of him. They purposely put the heavy conversation aside without further discussion.

“When’s the last time you went grocery shopping?” he asked once he opened the fridge. She couldn’t see but she knew the inside of it was as sparse as her cupboards she had her head stuck in. There wasn’t much to work with.

“No comment.”

He closed the fridge and opened a drawer to pull out her stack of menus. “Take out it is.”

 

Tessa deliberately squeezed in an extra yoga session on Saturday afternoon. She let herself get caught up in the calm voice of the instructor, focusing in on her breathing and sinking deeper into every pose. Laying in shavasana at the end of class, she felt grounded physically and mentally.

The dual purpose of yoga, in addition to destressing, was to minimize the time she had left over to get ready. Once she got home and showered, there wasn’t enough time before dinner to freak out. Routine carried her through getting dressed: blow dry, curl, makeup, clothes, jewelry. Left in charge of the dinner arrangements, she’d picked a trendy restaurant across town. She figured both budget constraints and location would sufficiently decrease the likelihood of running into any skaters. The trade-off was that she actually had to dress up a little. A dress felt like overkill for a (fake) double date, so she went with skinny black dress pants and a cream silk blouse. In the end, there was no time to second guess or try on other outfits.

The knock on the door came just as she was putting her lipstick into her clutch. Scott had insisted upon picking her up, despite her offer to drive. She took in the sight of him waiting in the hall and it caused her insides to twist. He’d dressed up too in a deep blue button down, rolled-up sleeves showing off his arms, and dark grey pants. He always looked good when he made the effort. Tessa pressed one hand low against the door frame, steadying herself.

“You didn’t lose your key, did you?”

“Nope.”

She backed away from the door, letting him cross the threshold.

“I can’t think of the last time you didn’t just let yourself in,” she mused. She crouched down, reaching into the back of the coat closet to grab her favourite black stilettos.

“A good date doesn’t just barge into a girl’s home.”

Fake date, she mentally corrected. She stood up, stepping into her heels. Scott offered a hand to steady her as she did. When she was set, he brushed his lips against her knuckles before letting go.

“You look beautiful,” he said, all earnest sincerity.

She could feel her cheeks reddening against her will and broke eye contact. “Thanks.”

She picked up her keys and locked the door behind them. Scott took her hand as they walked to his car and opened her door for her before heading around to get in himself. He had clearly dedicated himself to the whole fake date idea. It was a little cheesy and completely unnecessary, but Tessa kind of loved it anyways. However, it did nothing to soothe her worries or help her compartmentalize. She tried to cling to the calm she had acquired in yoga, but her nerves were already fraying.

They got to the restaurant first and were shown to a table tucked off to the side, Scott guiding her behind the hostess with a hand low on her back. The restaurant was dimly lit, tea lights flickering on every table. Scott took the seat beside Tessa, leaving the other side of the table temporarily empty. Black napkins were folded at each spot in some fan design. Tessa fiddled with the corner, not wanting to undo the napkin origami quite yet when she realized…

“Scott,” she whispered urgently. The restaurant was already loud enough that no one else was likely to overhear, but she couldn’t help it. “We forgot to plan what we’re going to say.”

“Say about?”

“About us. We didn’t come up with a cover story about how long we’ve been together or where we went on our first date or if we’re already exclusive. Nothing they might ask us.”

His lips twitched up, the beginnings of a smile playing in his eyes. “Relax T. It’s dinner, not an interrogation.” He brushed her hair to the side and slid his hand to the back of her neck. “Don’t overthink it. We’ll be fine. It’s us.”

She wanted to push him, for them to come up with some quick game plan, but the hostess approached the table with Michelle and Paul trailing behind.

Seated after hugs and introductions, Michelle immediately reached for the wine menu. “Did you two want to split a bottle?”

“Too close to competition,” Tessa apologized. “This dinner is already going to be an indulgence.”

“Michelle was trying to get me to understand the basics of ice dance on the drive down,” Paul said. “I mean, obviously I know you two are hometown heroes and all, but I didn’t quite understand how intense you two have been your whole lives. It’s kind of amazing it took you two this long to get together.”

It didn’t even take three minutes for it to come up in conversation. Tessa sucked in a breath trying to not immediately freak out. Scott reached over and rested a comforting hand on her thigh sensing that she needed it. Unfortunately, just like in Mississauga, his touch was the opposite of calming.

“Tessa just decided to finally lower her standards,” Scott joked.

Her attention snapped from her thigh to him. “That’s not funny,” she replied sternly.

Michelle asked Paul’s opinion on a bottle of wine, drawing their attention away for a moment. Tessa frowned at Scott. She always hated his self-deprecating jokes because she was pretty sure some part of him was never kidding. He squeezed her leg in silent apology, probably more sorry that he upset her than sorry for his farfetched comment.

“Did you guys want to at least split some appetizers?” Paul questioned.

“Sure.” Scott flipped open his menu to peruse. “Oh, Tess definitely wants the bruschetta.”

“Let’s get an order,” Michelle agreed. “And maybe some scallops?”

They all sorted out their entrees and were ready to order by the time the waitress came around. Tessa took Scott’s menu from him and handed it off along with hers. His arm came to rest around the back of her chair as they settled in to chat.

Michelle got right to the point. “So you two have been together a month or so now, right?”

This was exactly why Tessa had wanted to avoid this dinner. She shrugged noncommittally at the same time Scott nodded.

“What’s it like dating someone you already spend your whole day with? I mean, are you two getting sick of each other already?”

“Absolutely not,” Scott answered, without missing a beat. “She’s my best friend. There’s no one I would rather be with.”

“But you’re not living together yet, are you?” Paul asked.

“No,” Tessa said.

“Tess would have to seriously downsize her wardrobe to be able to share a closet,” Scott added. “And she probably would get sick of me after too many Leafs games.”

“Oh good, you’re a Leafs fan,” Paul said, wiping his brow in fake relief. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be a Red Wings fan living here.”

“Never,” Scott vowed.

That kicked off a rather more detailed conversation about the Leaf’s prospects for the season than Tessa necessarily wanted to participate in. Luckily, the waitress interrupted with the wine, allowing Michelle to steer the conversation towards the goings-on of mutual friends.

On the surface, the dinner went swimmingly. Michelle snuck in a few relationship questions here and there, all of which Scott handled with aplomb. Every answer was somehow entirely true, drawing on their actual relationship and skimming over whatever romantic relationship they were faking. Tessa was honestly in awe, beyond glad that she had him with her.

But that was also exactly the problem. Any nice clear demarcations Tessa had set about their relationship were quickly being ripped away from her. It was so easy for her to almost believe that this was all real, that they really were introducing him to her friends after a happy month together. He fit so damn well even though he hadn’t actually spent much time with Michelle or even met Paul before.

And even worse was the attention he paid to her all night. The casual touches and the soft looks with twinkling eyes. His hand covering hers on the table, fingers curling in-between hers. Picking up her napkin and spreading it back across her lap when she dropped it. Offering her a bite of his swordfish from his fork when he caught her eying it. She made eye contact with him for the briefest moment while he fed it to her and she felt like she was going to melt. It was all just so damn intimate. It honestly felt more intimate than the PDA in Mississauga because none of it felt put on at all. It wasn’t even really outside the realm of their normal relationship, but it sure seemed romantic in this context. That was the problem. It felt dangerously real. She didn’t have the slightest clue how she was supposed to ever going on a first date with anyone else after knowing how good a date could be with Scott. But having this all the time wasn’t an option, so she needed to get herself in check. Somehow.

They skipped dessert so that Paul and Michelle would make it to the concert in good time. Before they left, Tessa placed her napkin on the table, excusing herself to the washroom.

“I’ll come with you,” Michelle said, already halfway up from the table.

“You two are just trying to leave us the bill,” Paul deadpanned.

Michelle laughed while Tessa shook her head at Scott, silently telling him to not even think about picking up the tab. They casually took turns paying all the time while travelling without keeping track, but this wasn’t that at all. Michelle took off and Tessa plucked her clutch from the table, following behind. She glanced back to see Scott already taking out his wallet. Incorrigible.

“You two are truly something special,” Michelle said while they were both washing their hands.

Automatically, Tessa shook her head. Denial was always her default when it anyone brought up her relationship with Scott.

“No really,” Michelle insisted. “I’ve always known how you felt about him, but he really loves you. It’s like something out of a damn romance novel, the way he looks at you.”

She took a couple paper towels, drying her hands fully while avoiding eye contact in the mirror. There was nothing she could say to deny it since she was pretending to date him and denying a boyfriend’s love would be nonsensical. But it wasn’t true, even if it kind of felt like it could be tonight. It was all fake, she just needed to remember that.

Instead, she said, “Paul’s really great. You seem like a good fit.”

It was true. She did mean it, she wasn’t just trying to change the topic. Her lipstick had gotten smudged in the course of the meal and she took a moment to touch it up.

“He is. I’m really happy. But obviously, our four months can’t compare to what you two have. I mean, Tom started that pool six or seven years ago when he realized Scott was permanently head over heels in love with you. We all knew it was just a matter of time before you both stopped dancing around each other, metaphorically of course.”

_In love?_

Michelle laughed at her own joke and Tessa gave her a weak smile.

In love. Head over heels in love.

Tessa desperately wanted to ask Michelle just what in the hell she was talking about. Scott was not in love with Tessa. If anyone would know if he was, it would obviously be Tessa. And he wasn’t. So she wanted to ask Michelle just why Tom thought that, but that would be awfully strange considering she was supposed to be in a happy relationship with him already.

Michelle clicked the cap back on her own lipstick. “All set?”

Tessa nodded and they walked back into the main restaurant. Sure enough, there were two bills already sitting paid on the table.

“If you boys already wrapped things up here, we might as well all head out,” Michelle said.

Tessa looked at Scott as he got up. Like, really looked at him, the way she never let herself. Familiar didn’t begin to describe how well she knew him. She knew the slope of his shoulder, how her hand curved over it in closed hold and how her head tucked against it when he held her. She knew what it was like to run her hands through his hair, having helped him style it before competitions, but also sometimes just because she wanted to. She knew how his eyes crinkled when he really laughed, and how when he made a joke, he waited to make sure she was laughing before he joined in. She knew his moods better than he did, able to tell how he was feeling from the tension he was carrying or a missed opportunity for a joke. She knew everything about him, so she would definitely know if he was in love with her. Tessa was sure she would know. She was pretty sure anyways.

She was pretty sure that she was pretty sure.

Under her examination, Scott tilted his head slightly, silently asking if she was okay. She wasn’t. She was confused as all hell. Unfortunately, even when it was him that she was confused about, he was also the one who could steady her. She took his hand, locking her pinkie between his fingers, and led him out of the restaurant.

They said their goodbyes in the parking lot. Tessa was quiet on the way home, watching Scott as he drove. He kept sneaking glances at her at red lights and stop signs, trying to figure her out.

“You missed your favourite part of the meal,” he said, breaking their comfortable silence. “I have some homemade cookies in the freezer, if you want to come over.”

“Your mom’s? I’d love some. That sounds great.”

It did, and she would never turn down dessert, but mostly she wanted more time with him. Not only did she not really want their evening to end, she needed to figure out what was going on. Was Michelle right? Had she somehow missed her own best friend’s feelings?

Six years. That’s what Michelle had said. Six or seven. That was back when she was just fifteen or sixteen, still awkward and growing into herself. Scott would have been seventeen or eighteen. She thought back to how things had been then. That would have been right around the time that she had started working harder to hide her feelings, recognizing that they weren’t going anywhere. They’d never spoken about it at the time, obviously, but she kind of remembered him kicking up their physical connection around the same time. She’d thought it was just him noticing her pulling back and annoyingly making it harder for her the way he loved to tease her back then. But it had all stuck, the hugs and the hand holding and the kisses on the ice, and eventually it just became the new normal. If her memory was right on the timing, then that could maybe support what Michelle said that Tom thought. Maybe. Or it could be nothing.

He met her as she got out of his car and tucked her under his arm for the short walk to his door. He slipped off his shoes once inside and took out his wallet, tossing it on the end table he had bought when he realized how useful the one she had in her apartment by her front door was. She placed her clutch on it more gently.

“I had a really good time tonight,” she said, trying not to sound too nervous. She was though. She couldn’t shake off the idea, the hope, that maybe Michelle wasn’t wrong.

“Good. See, you worry too much T.”

“Did you?” she asked.

He was already headed to the kitchen but turned back towards her. “Did I what?”

“Did you have a good time?” She moved towards him, leaving them standing in the middle of his living room.

“With you, always.”

She bit her lip, considering. For a split second, his eyes flashed down to her lips. It was so brief, she could have imagined it, but she didn’t think she did. So she took another half step towards him and he didn’t move.

Tessa was anything but impulsive. She was a meticulous planner, needing to know every detail and plan for every contingency. So she looked at the facts in front of her, what Michelle thought about Scott’s feelings and what she knew about her own. She placed them in the context of a fourteen year relationship and in the context of that moment, looking up at him in his living room. She made a decision.

She kissed him. Soft and slow. And to her relief, he kissed her back. That was a good sign. She wanted to keep going, to get lost in him, but knew she shouldn’t. She needed to be sure they were on the same page. She pulled back, heels coming back down to the ground, and watched as he opened his eyes a moment later. She held his gaze, trying to work out how he was going to react.

“There’s no one here, Tess,” he whispered.

Unlike at camp or on campus or at the restaurant, there was no one to try to convince of anything except themselves. She clasped her own wrist, keeping herself from reaching out to him.

“I know,” she whispered back. She felt like speaking any louder would break the spell of the moment, whatever the moment was.

“Who are you pretending for?” he asked. His eyes were dark in a way she couldn’t remember seeing before.

“For me.” She barely got the words out with a shaky exhale. She felt like she was entirely losing her nerve. He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. Instinctively, she leaned towards his touch and he moved to cup her cheek.

“What do you mean?”

“I just…” She had to say it. The only other option at this point was running away, probably to Siberia so she would never have to face him again. She didn’t like the Russians she knew enough to feel confident in that option as a good life choice. She took a deep breath in and tightened her grip on her wrist. “I wanted to pretend tonight was real. Like you want me back.”

Scott froze. So Tessa froze too, waiting.

“Pretend I want you back?” he repeated, tentative and questioning.

She nodded, having used up all her courage to speak already. Really, she wanted more than that, but her brain wasn’t working at full capacity to express it.

Scott shook his head slightly, and Tessa felt her heart drop and smash. She quickly took a step back, eyes wide, and his hand fell from her cheek. Oh no. Oh fuck. She had read it all wrong. Messed it all up. Fuck.

“No Tess, no,” he murmured, holding his hands out as if to placate her.

She scampered backwards six more steps until she hit a wall. She couldn’t breathe. She’d ruined everything. She loved him. She loved him, but he didn’t love her the same way. It had all just been fake for him. So fake.

“Stop Tess.”

She did, tensing up, mostly because she had nowhere to go. Her shoulders inched up towards her ears. Her arms came up across her body, putting an extra barrier between them. No Tess, no. Her ragged breathing started taking over her whole body causing her to shake with every shallow breath. Scott moved forward, closing the distance between them once again until he was right in front of her. He left enough space that she could step past him if she could just make her legs move again.

“Don’t pretend. Please. You don’t have to pretend.”

She didn’t understand. She couldn’t focus on his meaning. Her head just kept repeating his words over and over. No Tess, no. She was staring hard at the carpet. Her brain wasn’t working. No Tess, no. She needed to get out of there, somewhere where she could fall apart, but she couldn’t quite figure out how to do that. It was as if her brain didn’t know how to walk away from him. No Tess, no.

He took her face in his hands, gently but firmly forcing her to look up from the carpet. To look at him.

“You’re all I’ve ever wanted T.”

 

Tessa collapsed.

  
After years of suffering featuring two surgeries, Tessa was well used to her legs being in screaming pain. However, she wasn’t used to them giving out entirely, just flat out refusing to hold her weight. And yet, she found herself falling to the floor, her entire body in such shock from Scott’s words that it simply failed to function.

Unsurprisingly, Scott caught her before her ass hit the ground. He never let her fall. He had a firm grip on her sides, holding her in stasis halfway down the wall. Gently, he lowered her the rest of the way to the floor. That was good because she really felt she needed to be sitting.   
Settling himself on the floor, he took her hands in his. She gaped at him in return. In the span of two minutes she’d gone from hopeful to heartbroken to actual, clinical shock. She really needed a minute to catch up.

“Sorry, could you repeat that?” she asked stupidly.

“I said you’re all I want. All I’ve ever wanted.”

He waited patiently while she processed. One thumb skimmed back and forth across her knuckles, but he didn’t otherwise move.

Somehow, despite the fact she had made the first move, she hadn’t seen this coming. Her brain lagged behind, trying to adjust to this new information. Years of loving him had in no way prepared her for finding out he loved her too.

“You love me.” That was what he was trying to tell her.

“I love you,” he confirmed.

It was enough for everything to click into place. It was everything.

For the second time, she kissed him. And then for the third. And fourth. And fifth. And then she stopped counting.

Their legs lay awkwardly between them, blocking her from getting closer to him. That wasn’t working. She placed both hands firmly on his chest and pressed him backwards, encouraging him down to the floor. Knees spread on either side of him, she followed him down, settling herself on top. Their lips never parted in the transition, working seamlessly together.

His hands ran down her back and then pushed her blouse out of the way to run back up, exploring while pressing them closer together. It was what she wanted, but wasn’t enough, so she pulled her shirt off herself, speeding things along. It went flying somewhere across the room as she already came back to him, her lips desperate against his. She arched her back making space for her hands to work on the buttons of his shirt. She got them undone and pushed the fabric out of her way so she could drag her nails down his chest. He groaned against her mouth in response.

“Tess.” She refused to pull back, but moved to kiss his neck, allowing him to rasp out his words. “We need to move somewhere that won’t end with carpet burn.”

She laughed in surprise. He had a point. She rolled to the side and let him stand up. She stayed sitting for a moment, looking up at the sight in front of her, bare chest, messed up hair, fire in his eyes.

“We need to talk.”

His breath hitched at her words and a brief flash of panic crossed his face. She held out her hands and he helped her up, taking her in his arms.

“Sure T.” His voice dropped low and dangerous. One hand tangled in her hair, his mouth pressed against her ear. “We can talk.” He lips moved back and kissed the spot behind her ear, the same spot he had kissed in Mississauga on Andrew’s floor. She shivered and a moan escaped her. “Let’s start with you telling me exactly what you want me to do to you.”

She pushed him backwards, vaguely in the direction of his bedroom, while he focused on removing the rest of their outfits.

“Okay.” She nipped at his lip, kicking his bedroom open, a trail of clothes behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo... yeah.  
> Tessa kissing Scott and then the subsequent misunderstanding was the first 500 words I wrote for this fic, so it's nice to finally have that caught up.  
> We are almost done here. I'll write the wrap up chapter at some point and then this will all be over. Please spew all your thoughts at me as it's lovely to read them. I hope you were all pleased with this nice long addition. For reading this far, internet hugs and kisses to any of you who want them. Bonus points to all the people who have bookmarked or subscribed to this fic (I don't even know how subscriptions work tbh but you are great). Thank you <3
> 
> My writing side blog is over here if you are looking for me: https://obviouslynotadragon.tumblr.com/


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dessert

“We really should have thawed these out first,” Tessa said, pulling the Tupperware container of double chocolate cookies out. She shut the freezer quickly, shivering in nothing but Scott’s dress shirt. “Like right away when we got back. Now we have to wait longer for dessert.”

He wrapped his arms around her middle, pressing her back into him. She dropped the cookies on the counter before leaning back and surrendering to his embrace.

“It’s all part of my plan to keep you here,” he joked.

“You’re feeding me cookies with ulterior motives?” She feigned offence, her hand pressed to her chest. “I can’t believe you would use cookies against me.”

“I know you T. I know how you’ll do anything for chocolate. Enough sex and cookies and I’m pretty sure I can convince you to love me too,” he said.

He pulled back the collar of her (his) shirt, kissing her neck, her shoulder, wherever he could reach. For once, Tessa didn’t respond to his touch. She went still.

“Love you too?”

She turned slowly in his arms to look up at him. She read a flash of hurt on his face before he shifted into a smile that would fool anyone but her. The cookies were forgotten.

“Don’t freak out T, but yeah, that’s my plan.” He rubbed her arms up and down slowly as he spoke, keeping a solid grip on her as if worried she might bolt. “We can go whatever speed you want, do whatever you want to do or not do with whatever this is, but that’s what I’m going to be working towards. Convincing you to love me and winning Olympic gold again– my two goals. I’m betting I can do both.”

Eyes wide, she stared up at him speechless. Literally. She could not speak. He didn’t know.

His smile fell a little and then a little more as she didn’t say anything.

“C’mon T,” he muttered. “It’s not that preposterous.”

“You actually think I don’t love you?” She breathed out the words like a revelation.

She would have thought it literally impossible for him to think that if he wasn’t standing right in front of her saying it, vulnerable and raw. She knew Scott. She knew his insecurities despite his sometimes cocky exterior. But she had always half thought that he knew her feelings, and since Michelle’s birthday she had been sure he knew exactly how she felt. But no. Even now, after the whole night and everything, he somehow didn’t have a clue. But worse, he was genuinely worried that she wouldn’t love him back. After everything that night, and in the last month, and over their whole lives, he still thought she might deem him to be not enough for her.

Tessa took his face in her hands. Her thumbs stroked over his cheeks while she buried her fingers into his hair. She tried to ground him to her with her touch and her eyes, forcing him to see exactly how she felt.

“Scott, I’ve been in love with you for so long I don’t even remember when I realized it anymore. I’ve loved you practically the whole time I’ve known you. I love you. Don’t you ever dare think otherwise again.” She spoke each sentence deliberately, needing the full weight of her words to be perfectly clear to him.

A day ago, she couldn’t have imagined baring herself so fully to him. Now, that was exactly what she was doing – laying it all out. She needed to make him understand that he held her heart, her soul, her happiness in his hands and that she trusted him with them. He was worthy of that. He was worthy of her.

His eyes welled up and she watched him swallow hard. She pressed herself closer to him, encouraging him to wind his arms around her again. He did, his fingers digging into her back hard enough to leave marks.

“It’s you and me. Always. Tell me you know that.” Tessa needed him to confirm he understood or she would have to keep going until he did.

Scott nodded. It wasn’t enough. She was talking about forever, and she knew he knew that. She already knew he was in because he never would have told her he loved her otherwise. Family and skating were the most important things to him and she was both of them. He would never jeopardize their partnership for anything less than forever. For her, the rest of their lives, their forever, had already begun sitting (falling) on his floor a couple hours earlier. She needed him to understand that.

“Tell me,” she repeated. He needed to say it to make it real.

“Just us. Always.”

“Good,” she murmured against his lips. She took his bottom lip between her hers, moving slowly, tenderly. It wasn’t enough for him. He clutched her closer, pressing his lips hard against hers. She followed his lead and responded in kind. He spun them around to press her back against the counter top. Neither of them made a move to take it farther, needing more time before round three, but they kept going until sometime later when the counter’s edge jutting against her spine got too painful.

She gently pushed him away, but only a smidge. He shuffled back a tad and she lifted herself onto the counter behind her. Loosely wrapping her legs around him, she didn’t want him to get the wrong idea and go far.

“Do you think they’ve thawed yet?” she asked.

“You’re thinking about dessert?” He slid his hands up her thighs past the edge of her (his) shirt. “Just what do I have to do to get your full attention?”

Tessa giggled. “You made me forget about it earlier, but if you want me at full strength for such _activities_ , you also have to keep me well fed.”

Without missing a beat, Scott stretched out and picked up the container from the far counter. He offered it up to her. “Eat up T.”

She popped the lid off and checked the cookies. They were room temperature and ready to eat.

“We still need to talk at some point.” She took a bite while holding the cookies out for him to take one too.

“You know, when you said that earlier, I was terrified you were about to tell me you made a mistake. That you didn’t want this.” He gestured between them.

She finished chewing before apologizing. “Sorry, that didn’t even occur to me.” She linked one of her hands with his, leaving her one hand to pick up another cookie. “Though I don’t think that’s as bad as me kissing you and telling you I want you, and you responding by saying ‘no’ multiple times.”

Scott shook his head and opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off,

“See! You’re doing it again,” she said. “Don’t do that. Last time you did that you broke my heart.” It was amazing how lightly she could say it, when it had been so wretched to live through just a couple hours earlier.

“I’m sorry,” he said, keeping his head perfectly still. “I’m so, so sorry Tess. In my defence, I’d just had the surprise of my life.”

“True,” she granted.

“I still handled it better than you did.” He poked her side, teasing her, and she flinched away.

“Not fair. I had more emotions to go through than you.” She didn’t know why she was fighting him on his, other than that she never liked to lose. “It’s a lot harder to comeback from heartbreak than elation.”

“You’ve watched too much Pride & Prejudice,” he said. “You’re taking after Mrs. Bennet, practically fainting from too much excitement.”

“Hey!” Despite her best effort to be offended, she let out half a laugh.

“Come on T, you should be impressed I can even make that reference.”

“I think you owe me a Pride & Prejudice free dance for that joke.”

“Veto.” The word was out of his mouth before she finish speaking. “I’m already giving you Audrey this year.”

“Fine, I want something else then.” She had no intention of giving up on her Pride & Prejudice program, but that was a battle for another day. She grabbed another cookie and took a bite.

“Oh yeah?” His eyebrows rose suggestively. “What did you have in mind?”

“Your mom.”

His face immediately fell. “Can we please not mention my mother right now?” He tugged on the hem of her (his) shirt for emphasis. She laughed, pleased she got the reaction she had been trying for.

“When I called her for you – ”

He cut her off. “Still not cool T.”

“I know, sorry. But I want to know what she said to you about me. About us.”

His eyes softened. “What do you think she said?” he asked gently.

Tessa shrugged, trying to stay casual, like Alma’s opinion wasn’t a huge deal to her. It was. “That it was a bad idea, with skating and all.”

He reached up to brush her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Not even close.”

He slid her forward so she was barely sitting on the edge of the counter. “Let’s move somewhere comfier if we really are going to talk.”

“I think we should.”

She wrapped her legs around him. He picked her up and she held on with one hand, bringing the cookies with her. They settled themselves in the middle of the couch, his arm around her, her thighs across his lap, cookies on the coffee table within reach.

“So your Mom…” she prompted.

He stoked her hair working out some of the tangles in her that had accumulated over the night. He took his time answering slowly, one sentence at a time, while his fingers fumbled with the knots. “She loves you Tess. You know that. My whole family loves you. She lectured me for not calling home sooner and for having to hear the news from Danny. She said if anyone could make such a complicated relationship work, it would be us. And she reminded me that I had to bring you home soon to see everyone.”

Tessa let out a breath she didn’t know she'd been holding. Alma approved.

“That’s why I didn’t want to call her until the whole fake relationship thing was over T. I knew exactly what my parents would say and it hurt to hear it.”

She snuggled closer to him. She didn’t want to interrupt, but still needed to comfort him. He pressed his lips to her forehead in response.

“My brothers, once they stopped being dicks about the money they lost, they made it clear that if anything went wrong they would take your side.”

“They wouldn’t,” Tessa said.

“I have no intention of finding out if they were kidding.”

She was sure they were, but she had no intention of finding out either.

“I’m glad you family isn’t upset.”

She nuzzled herself against his bare chest and felt him laughing.

“Not upset – that’s the understatement of the year. Tess, my mom told me she has my grandmother’s ring and asked if I wanted to look at it next time we came home in case I ever want to use it.”

Oh. Tessa found herself blinking back tears. She brushed them away refusing to look up at Scott. He held her a little tighter.

“I had no idea we would end up here just a week later. At the time, it crushed me. I love you so much, and my mom was offering me a ring that I had no real reason to think you would ever want.”

“Scott.” Her voice cracked with emotion. She didn’t have the words to say anything else.

“I can just barely believe this whole thing isn’t a dream T. I think I’m going to need some time for it to really sink in.”

“Yeah, me too.” She thought about it for a moment, just how much her life had changed so quickly. “I’m going to have to change how I compartmentalize.”

“Say what now?”

“Well you see,” she started. She knew he would tease her, but she figured explaining might help him understand just how life had been for her. “I love you – ” he dropped a kiss on the top of her head “ – and I needed to deal with that. You know I had a crush on you when we were little, obviously.” He shrugged and nodded. Everyone knew. “I wasn’t subtle. And Jordan and my friends never let me live it down. But the crush never went away, it only got worse, and by the time I was sixteen I was definitely in love with you to the point of distraction. So I needed to do something. So I made nice little boxes in my head and shoved all of my non-platonic feelings for you into them. And then I pushed those boxes as far back in my brain as I could. And every time you whispered in my ear or smiled that Scott Moir smile at me, I just added it to the boxes.”

“That sounds like a hell of a lot of work,” he said. He traced her jaw with one finger and she leaned into his touch, grateful she didn’t need to shove anything in a box for once.

“It really was, but otherwise I would have just melted into a puddle every time you looked at me and then we wouldn’t be Olympic gold medalists. And so I was fine, most of the time –”

“Not all of the time?”

“No, there were definitely times you were beyond distracting no matter how much I focused on my stupid breathing. But it all went off the rails entirely with the whole fake dating thing.”

“It did?”

“Are you going to keep interrupting or are you going to let me talk?” She titled her head so she could see him. He took the opportunity to sneak a kiss.

“I’ll stop,” he said.

“Thank you. Right, so from that damn walk home from Michelle’s onward I was basically fucked.”

“Tess!”

She frowned. “You said you would stop interrupting.”

“Since when do you use language like that casually?”

“Oh,” she laughed. “I guess I’m just in my head since I don’t normally talk about this stuff and it slipped out.”

She told him how Mississauga was for her, being beyond distracted, needing to distance herself, unable to cope.

“And then I decided we were only fake dating in Canada. That’s what I told myself. That it didn’t matter if my feelings were spilling all over the place as long it didn’t reach down to the States and our skating. Which was all fine until Michelle texted me and blew up that border.”

“That’s what was going on with you?” he asked incredulous.

She shrugged casually. “Pretty much. I needed an international border to deal with just how much I love you.”

He buried his face against her hair and muttered what she thought was ‘incredible’. “What about tonight? Dinner?”

“I was pretty sure I was wrecked forever you were so perfect. So if that was your plan, it was working.”

“I didn’t have a plan. I just wanted to be with you, but I had no idea how to make that happen.”

“Lucky for you then that girls really do talk when they go to the bathroom. Michelle said that Tom started the pool because you loved me so much, when I thought the pool was because I was so transparent with my feelings. I decided to figure out if she was right. And yeah, you know the rest.”

He contorted himself to bend down, kissing her thoroughly. When he finally pulled back, he said, “Thank god for Michelle. We might need to name our first born after her.”

“Or just buy her a nice bottle of wine. She’d probably appreciate that more.”

“Sure. She was absolutely right though. I can tell you exactly when I realized how I felt about you.”

She moved back a little to be able to watch him tell this story. She gave him a wicked grin in anticipation. After pouring herself out, she wanted the playing field evened.

“Do tell.”

“I was seventeen. It was almost the end of the school year, just after your sixteenth birthday. I was late to the rink and you were already there, lacing up your skates next to Meryl. Being the troublemaker that I was, I decided to listen in before alerting you two that I was there. Meryl was asking in that uninterested tone of hers if you had any weekend plans. And you told her proudly, yes actually, you had a date with Tom Williams.”

Tessa didn’t remember the day he was describing, but she remembered Tom. He had been in her math class and was pretty quiet, but nice enough. They’d gone on a few dates when he asked her out. She’d definitely been trying to move on from Scott, but when it didn’t work she told him she wanted to just be friends. She hadn’t seen him or thought about him since graduation. Scott never would have even met him. It was pretty remarkable that Scott remembered, last name and all.

“For some reason, I didn’t like that. So I pretended I hadn’t heard and slid onto the bench beside you, flicking your ponytail. Later, I asked you the same thing Meryl had, and you lied. You said you were probably just going to go to the mall with friends or something. And I hated that more. It took me about two days of grumpy moping to figure out that the problem was less that you lied to me and more that you were going out with some other guy.”

“You were jealous,” she teased.

“I was very jealous. And I got a little territorial because I was seventeen and stupid. But you never called me on it or asked me to stop. And really, life was just better when you were in my arms.” He squeezed her for emphasis. “Still is.”

“Basically, we’ve both been suffering for years while our friends and family placed bets on us,” she summed up.

“Seems like it, except I wouldn’t necessarily call it suffering. I didn’t have any brain boxes or anything. I didn’t occur to me to overthink it. I just like being with you as much as possible. It was the apart times that were harder. Loving you is basically the easiest thing for me. But, I am still pissed off about that pool.”

Tessa felt herself melting. If being with Scott meant him just dropping casual declarations like that and continuing on normal conversation after, she wasn’t sure she would survive.

“What are we going to do about that?”

“About what kiddo?”

“The fake dating. Everyone thinks we’ve been together a month. Do we bother correcting them?”

“We probably should, but they’re probably going to mock us for this mess. Maybe we just wait a year and tell them on our anniversary. Or…” He trailed off, his brow furrowing in thought.

“Scott?”

“Hear me out.” He sat up, excited like a little kid, forcing her to shift in response. “We tell them about the last month, but skip the tonight bit. They’ll start the pool back up, those assholes. And then we pick someone to be on our side, Chiddy maybe because he owes me for joining the pool in the first place, and make them put a whole bunch of money down on our behalf. Then we tell everyone we got together on whatever day we bet on, we take all their money, and like take a vacation with it or something.”

Tessa curled into him, laughing against his chest. “That’s ridiculous.”

“No Tess, it’s brilliant.”

She reached around to cradle the back of his head, bringing his forehead to rest against hers. “I don’t want to pretend anymore Scott. I don’t want any more schemes. I don’t want lie to our families. I don’t want to act like I don’t love you. I want simple. You and me. That’s it.”

“Okay T, you’re right,” he said softly. “We’ll call them tomorrow and suffer the ‘I told you so’s together.”

She went to say ‘yes, together’, but a yawn came out instead.

“Let’s go to bed T.”

He took her hand and pulled her behind him to his room.

“Oh wait, the cookies!”

Tessa scurried back the living room. She grab the container and put the lid back on it in the kitchen to save them from drying out. Scott was straightening up the covers they had messed up earlier. Tessa watched him from his bedroom doorway, drinking in the sight of him, and started unbuttoning her (hers – she had decided she was keeping it) shirt.

So many things had needed to snowball to get them to that moment. If she had skipped Michelle’s party, if Michelle hadn’t introduced her to Brian, if Scott hadn’t walked up at that moment, she wouldn’t have been able to watch him tuck in the corners of sheets and admire his whole body on display in nothing but boxers. She’d probably have gone on as she was for years, pining away, compartmentalizing away every touch, until some other catalyst had come along. Instead of worrying about the wasted years, she decided to just be glad she didn’t have to waste any more. She’d spent enough brain power keeping her from just being happy with the man in front of her.

Scott turned around and his eyes went wide and then hard at the sight of her shirt dropping to the floor. Smirking, she crawled into bed. Instead of cocooning herself in all the covers, she waited for him to join. He laid down flat on his back, and she curled up against his side. She draped one leg over him as he slid an arm around her.

Reaching back to flip off his lamp, he tried not to disturb her already comfortable position. In the dark, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her forehead.

“Goodnight Tess.”

“Night love.”

Her brain was finally quiet for once, too content to overthink things. There was no need. She was already drifting off in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to the end. You have all been completely lovely along the way and I extra appreciate all the love the last chapter got. Thank you! If you have also read Marked, you might be thinking to yourself "She keeps bringing up P&P, she seems kind of bitter about it." I am. Just think of Tessa and Dawn and Liz On Top Of The World and how we are never getting that. I'm bitter alright. 
> 
> I should mostly return to real life obligations now and my other (non vm) WIP. I can always be found on tumblr here: https://obviouslynotadragon.tumblr.com/
> 
> xoxo


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